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THE 



GREAT CONCERN 



SALVATION. 



BY THE 



REV. THOMAS HALYBURTON. 



IN TWO PARTS. 



PHILADELPHIA *. 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by 
A. W. Mitchell, M. D., in the Office of the Clerk of the District 
Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



3 &1 * $ 



STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON, PHILA. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Great Concern of Salvation was not 
prepared for the press by its lamented author. 
It was originally prepared as a series of dis- 
courses to the people of Ceres parish, of which 
he was then minister. The former editions of 
the work are in the form in which it was first 
written, and in which it was left by the author 
at his decease. The present edition is re- written 
and abridged, for the Presbyterian Board of 
Publication. It is also divided into sections 
and chapters, and freed from many of the nu- 
merical subdivisions of former editions. The 
Scotticisms and obsolete words of the original 
are none of them retained ; and some paragraphs 
which were either of a local nature or not im- 
portant to the main design of the work, and 
many repetitions which, though important in 
delivering a series of discourses, are unnecessary 

3 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



in a printed book, are wholly omitted. It has 
been the design to give the principal thoughts 
and reasonings of the original, in as concise a 
form as the nature and object of the work would 
permit. Of the character of the author, and 
the excellence of his writings, it is not import- 
ant here to speak ; they have long been known 
to the Christian public. The writer will only 
add, that, however imperfectly he may have 
abridged the " Great Concern of Salvation," 
the advantages derived from it are a rich re- 
ward for all his labour. To no book, except 
the Bible, has he been more indebted than to 

this 

Charles C. Corss. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

A DISCOVERY OF MA^'s NATURAL STATE ; OR, THE GUILTY 
SINNER CONVICTED. 

CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Explication of the subject 7 

Sect. I. — Preliminary Remarks 7 

Sect. II.— Nature, Extent, &c, of Sin 12 

Sect. III. — Import of the phrase, " Come short of 

the glory of God " 15 

CHAPTER II. 

The subject discussed and applied 19 

Sect. I. — The charge read and opened 19 

Great evils implied in sin 25 

Aggravations of sin 31 

Sect. II. — Witnesses against the sinner 34 

Sect. III. — Address to different classes of persons 39 

Sect. IV. — Satisfaction required of the sinner. ... 55 

Sect. V. — Reasonableness of this satisfaction 59 

Sect. VI.— The misery of sinners 66 

PART II. 

MAN'S RECOVERY BY FAITH IN CHRIST, OR THE CON- 
VICTED SINNER'S CASE AND CURE. 

CHAPTER I. 

The jailer's question considered 70 

Conviction for sin characterized 71 

1* 5 



t) CONTENTS. 

Page 

The nature of salvation for which the sinner 

is anxious 74 

The nature of the sinner's concern 76 

CHAPTER II. 

Practical improvement of the subject 82 

Sect. I. — The reader put upon trial . . 82 

Sect. II. — Address to the unconvinced 87 

Sect. III. — Address to those who are awakened.. . 99 

CHAPTER III. 

The apostle's answer to the jailer considered 100 

Sect. I. — The answer explained 100 

Sect. II. — The convictions and feelings of the sin- 
ner immediately before believing .... 102 

Sect. III. — Character and work of Christ 104 

Sect. IV. & V.— Nature of faith 116-123 

Sect. VI. — Import of salvation 128 

Sect. VII. — Certainty of salvation to true believers 133 

CHAPTER IV. 

Improvement of the subject 138 

Sect. I. — Several sorts of unbelievers described. . 138 

Sect. II.— What are no true marks of faith 144 

Sect. III. — Some of the marks of saving faith. ... 154 

Sect. IV. — Address to unbelievers 163 

Sect. V. — Address to those who are in doubt 170 

Sect. VI. — Address to those who have reason to 

say they believe 1 74 



PART I. 



A DISCOVERY OF MAN'S NATURAL STATE; OR, 
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. 



Rev. iii. 22.— All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. 

CHAPTER I. 

EXPLICATION OF THE SUBJECT. 

Section I. Preliminary Remarks, — The great 
concern of man is suggested by three important 
inquiries ; What have I done ? What shall I do to 
be saved? What shall I render to the Lord ? To 
the question, What have we done ? the Bible 
answers, "All have sinned, and come short of the 
glory of God." If it be asked, What shall we do 
to be saved ? the answer is, " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." And if it 
be asked, " What shall we render to the Lord for 
all his mercies ?" we may reply in the words of 
the Psalmist, "I will take the cup of salvation, 
and call upon the name of the Lord ;" or in the 
language of the prophet, " He hath showed thee, 

7 



8 THE GREAT CONCERN 

O rn/in, what is good, and what doth the Lord 
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love 
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ?" 

Ministers of the Gospel are principally con- 
cerned with the second inquiry. They are to 
persuade men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
But as they come not to call the righteous, but 
sinners to repentance, the foundation must be 
laid in a correct view of man's natural state. 
Before we offer Christ, we must show your need 
of him; before we present the offers of mercy, 
we must describe your misery ; before we call 
you to repentance, we must show your guilt. 
On this account your attention is now invited to 
the words of the apostle, " all have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God." This pas- 
sage contains a general assertion, in which all 
stand convicted of sin. All, rich and poor, high 
and low, Jew and Gentile, have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God. It is not as- 
serted, that they may sin ; and if tempted, may 
fall ; but that they are already involved in guilt. 
The original word rendered come short, is em- 
phatical ; it properly signifies to fall short of the 
mark aimed at, or to fall behind in a race, so as 
to lose the prize. Man, in his first state, had a 
fair prospect for glory. He had power to run 



OF SALVATION. 9 

the race ; and the enemy had no ability to pre- 
vent his winning the prize. But though man 
had originally no encumbrances to retard his 
progress, yet he fell short of the glory of God. 
He lost the peculiar enjoyment of the Divine 
favour, of which he had so fair a prospect ; and 
the image of God, which was his glory, together 
with the advantages by which it was to be 
attended. 

The text of Scripture, " All have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God," expresses the 
sentiment, That all, tvho have descended from 
Adam in the ordinary way, have sinned, and 
thereby come short of the glory of God. A few 
propositions will prepare the way for a con- 
sideration of this momentous truth. 

First. God is the absolute and independent 
sovereign of the world. " The Lord Most High 
is terrible ; he is a great king over all the earth," 
and he alone is able to manage the affairs of so 
great a province ; for there is none like him, 
neither are there any works like his works. 
The excellence of his nature gives him alone a 
claim to absolute sovereignty, " Forasmuch as 
there is none like unto thee, O Lord ; thou art 
great, and thy name is great in might. Who 
would not fear thee, O King of nations ? For 



10 THE GREAT CONCERN 

to thee doth it appertain, forasmuch as there is 
none like unto thee." His right to rule is also 
founded upon his being the Creator of all things, 
" The Lord is a great King above all gods. The 
sea is his own, he made it." " O Jacob and 
Israel, thou art my servant ; I have formed thee, 
thou art my servant, O Israel." In short, his 
preserving all things, and his manifold mercies 
to his creatures, give him the best of all claims 
to absolute dominion. And his infinite wisdom, 
power, holiness, and justice, not only render 
him a perfect ruler, but make entire obedience 
to his authority desirable to all who know their 
best interests. 

Second. God has given laws to all his crea- 
tures, by which he governs them. Not to men- 
tion those for the control of the inanimate crea- 
tion ; he has prescribed to men their work. 
" There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save 
and to destroy." " For the Lord is our Judge, 
the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King." 
We are not in any thing left to our own arbitrary 
choice. He who has said to the sea, " Hitherto 
shalt thou come, and no farther," has likewise 
so dealt with man. But the holy laws by which 
on every hand he has limited man, are not like 
those set to the waves of the sea ; for God deals 



OF SALVATION. 11 

with us in a manner suited to our nature. Reason 
is given to man; and his limits he cannot pass, 
without abandoning his highest interest. 

Third. The great Lawgiver has annexed re- 
wards and punishments to his laws. The 
authority of God cannot be disregarded with 
impunity. His glory he will not give to an- 
other ; and therefore his laws are guarded with 
suitable rewards and punishments. He was 
under no obligation to give any reward for obe- 
dience, beyond that which flows from obedience. 
And this is sufficient ; for in keeping his com- 
mandments " there is great reward." But such 
was his goodness, that he promised to reward 
obedience with eternal life. Now this reward 
is greater than obedience deserved, and suited 
only to the bounty of the giver. On the other 
hand, a dreadful penalty is annexed to disobe- 
dience. God has not made it impossible for us 
to break his laws, if we choose to do it ;■ but if 
we do, the curse is inevitable, " Cursed is every 
one that continueth not in all things written in 
the book of the law to do them." 

Fourth. These laws have a fourfold pro- 
perty. " Wherefore the law is holy, and the 
commandment holy, just, and good." "We 
know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, 



12 THE GREAT CONCERN 

sold under sin." The law is holy. It is an 
exact transcript of the holy will of God. There 
is nothing in it unworthy of Him, who is of 
purer eyes than to behold iniquity. The law 
is just. It is given as the rule of justice among 
men. It renders to God his due, as well as to 
man. Man has no title to any thing, but from 
this law. Beyond what this grants, nothing can 
be justly claimed. The law is good. It was 
made with regard to the welfare of those who 
live under it ; and not to gratify the lusts of the 
wicked. And with this regard to our good in 
time and eternity, our duty and interest are 
made inseparable ; and disobedience and pu- 
nishment are alike inseparable. The law is spi- 
ritual. It is not like human laws, which extend 
only to outward actions ; but it is spiritual, 
reaching to all the thoughts and intents of the 
heart. This made the Psalmist exclaim, "I 
have seen an end of all perfection, but thy com- 
mandment is exceeding broad." 

Section II. Nature, Extent, fyc, of Sin.^— 
First. Sin is a want of conformity to the law, 
of which we have already spoken. This law 
regards not only actions, but the principle from 
which they proceed. It not only enjoins holy 



OF SALVATION. 13 

thoughts, words, and actions ; but it moreover 
requires that the habitual temper of our hearts 
be holy. If we come short of this, we sin. 
The tree must be good, or the fruit cannot be 
good. And our services must be performed 
with all the strength and heart and mind. 

Second. Sin imports also a transgression of 
the law. " For sin is the transgression of the 
law." Indeed, transgression, in its widest 
sense, comprehends all sin ; but it is frequently- 
restricted to actual sins, as the former branch 
of this description is restricted to sins of omis- 
sion. Sin is opposition to the law of God. God 
commands us to arise and work, but man re- 
fuses and sits still : God forbids specified sin- 
ful actions ; but man disregards the prohibition 
and performs them. 

Third. Hence, sin in its nature implies con- 
tempt of God ; for it flows from a secret enmity 
against him. Men may be so blinded as not to 
view it in this light ; but God makes breaking 
and contemning the law to be the same thing. 
" Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions 
of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the 
punishment thereof, because they have despised 
the law of the Lord, and have not kept his com- 
mandments, and their lies caused them to err, 
2 



14 THE GREAT CONCERN 

after the which their fathers have walked." In 
the view of most men, sin is a harmless thing ; 
but when seen in its true nature, it is far other- 
wise ; since it is nothing less than trampling on 
the authority and goodness of God, and endea- 
vouring, as it were, to dethrone him. 

Fourth. But for the further elucidation of 
this subject, notice a twofold inseparable pro- 
perty or adjunct of sin. First, sin is the defile- 
ment of the soul. The beauty and glory of 
man consists in his conformity to the holy law 
of God ; and so far as he deviates from this 
standard, he is polluted and denied. God has 
said of sin, " Oh, do not this abominable thing 
that I hate." Secondly, sin is also attended 
with a liability to punishment. " The wages 
of sin is death." " Cursed is every one tha<. 
continueth not in all things written in the book 
of the law to do them." 

II. But the word all, in the phrase " all have 
sinned," has a very extensive import. 

First. It implies that persons of all ages are 
involved in the same common misery; the 
child, as well as the old man who is stooping 
into the grave. If children have not sinned 
" after the similitude of Adam's transgression," 
they have derived sin enough from Adam to 



OF SALVATION. 15 

defile them. The aged need not envy even the 
infant of days ; for the youngest has sin enough 
to render it depraved, vicious, and guilty. 

Second. Persons of all professions and all 
ranks are sinners. The apostle speaks of all 
mankind in two classes, Jew and Gentile, and 
proves them all to be sinners. Even those very 
men who have so far forgot themselves as to 
fancy that they are above all law, are, like others, 
liable to punishment, for violating the law of 
God. 

Section III. Import of the phrase, " Come 
short of the glory of God" — First. Man has 
fallen short of the glory he had by the con- 
formity of his nature to God. In his first 
estate he was indeed " the image and glory of 
God." How wonderfully did the mind of in- 
nocent Adam, full of light, represent that God 
is light, and that in him is no darkness at all ! 
Other creatures had some fainter representations 
of the divine glory, wisdom, and power, but man 
alone, in this lower world, was capable of re- 
presenting the holiness, righteousness, purity, 
and other moral perfections of his Maker ; and 
on this account man was "the glory of God." 
God, as it were, gloried in him as the master- 



16 THE GREAT CONCERN 

piece of this visible creation, in whom more of 
himself was to be seen than in all the rest 
besides. But this peculiar excellence man has 
now lost ; he has fallen short of that which 
made him the glory of God. 

Second. Man has lost the glory he had as 
God's deputy in the world. He was made lord 
of God's works on earth. Animals came to him 
to pay homage, and receive names from him in 
paradise. But now the " crown is fallen from 
his head ;" he has come short of this glory : 
the creatures refuse subjection to him. 

Third. Man has come short of the glory he 
had in the enjoyment of God in paradise. He 
had the honour and happiness of conversing 
freely in Eden with his Maker. And what more 
could he want, while this blessed intimacy was 
kept up with the all-sufficient God? But of 
this he has now come short. 

Fourth. Man has come short of the glory he 
had in prospect. He was originally well fur- 
nished for a journey to glory. But the ex- 
pression, "falling short," contains more than 
this. Though at first we may suppose it to point 
only at the negative, yet it certainly includes 
the positive ; and therefore it implies, not only 
that man has lost his original beauty and con- 



OF SALVATION. 17 

formity to the image of God, but that he is 
fallen and denied by sin. 

Fifth. Not only has man lost the dominion he 
had, but he is become a slave to sin. He who 
once was so exalted, is now debased to the 
image of Satan. He is now exposed to insult, 
and his life is in jeopardy, even from the mean- 
est of the creatures that once yielded to him as 
their sovereign. He is now, as it were, scarcely 
capable of looking towards God, with whom he 
once enjoyed delightful and soul-refreshing 
communion. The sight of God, which once 
was his life, is now to him as death. 

Sixth. Not only has man forfeited his title to 
future happiness, but by sin he has merited end- 
less and inconceivable wo. From how high a 
hope, into what an abyss of misery, has man 
fallen by sin ! Where now is the glory ? 

But this subject directs us to the source of all 
this misery. It flows from the guilt of Adam's 
first sin. By the wise, just, and holy appoint- 
ment of God, Adam represented all his pos- 
terity. Had he stood, in him we all had stood; 
we should then have retained our innocence, 
and with it the love and the smiles of heaven. 
But by the disobedience of this one man we 
were all made sinners. " Therefore, as by one 
2* 



18 THE GREAT CONCERN 

man sin entered into the world, and death by 
sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that 
all have sinned." 

It flows also from the natural depravity of 
man transmitted to us. We are shapen in ini- 
quity. We cannot bring a clean thing out of 
an unclean. Our natures have an inclination to 
evil, "only evil continually." And it flows 
from abounding temptations. As our hearts 
are prone to evil, so every thing in this present 
disorder on account of sin, is suited to carry on 
the infection. The creatures, by reason of sin, 
are made subject to vanity. They are made 
subservient to the lust of men ; and the devil 
and our corrupt hearts daily abuse them to this 
end. Thus all men have sinned and come 
short of the glory of God. 



OF SALVATION. If 

CHAPTER II. 

THE SUBJECT DISCUSSED AND APPLIED, 

Section I. Tlie charge read and opened. — 
The charge brought against you, reader, is not 
a slight misdemeanor, that may be atoned for 
by a bare acknowledgment, or a heartless cry 
for mercy. It is one of awful magnitude, for it 
is that of sin against the great Sovereign of the 
world. Sin is an ordinary word, and most men 
conclude that but little is comprehended in it. 
But in reality there is more in it than men or 
angels can ever fully unfold. Do not consider 
this a groundless allegation ; but consider well 
the reasons upon which it is founded. 

I. Your serious attention is first invited to 
some views of sin. 

First. View it in the glass of God's law. The 
Most High and Holy God has exhibited his will 
in two tables, containing rules that are holy, just, 
and every way advantageous for the govern- 
ment of man. Here, you may see sin dashing 
in pieces these two tables, in a much worse sense 
than Moses did. Every sin throws them to the 
ground; for, "Whosoever shall keep the whole 
law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of 



2C THE GREAT CONCERN 

all." Is it a small thing to trample under foot 
the holy and righteous law of God, that law 
which is the image of perfect holiness and spot- 
less purity? 

Second. Take a view of sin in the nature of 
God, the fountain of all glory, excellency, and 
majesty, and how hateful will it appear ! No- 
thing in all the world, but sin, is opposed to God. 
The meanest creature, the crawling insect, has 
nothing in its nature really opposed to the nature 
of God. Sin, and sin alone, is opposed. With 
this he cannot dwell. " Evil shall not dwell 
with him, nor sinners stand in his sight." "O, 
do not this abominable thing that I hate." 

Third. View sin in the threatening of God's 
law, and see how it is there estimated. All the 
power of heaven, and the wrath of God, are ar- 
rayed against sin. Take one instance in the 
seventh chapter of the book of Joshua. There, 
a people accustomed to victory retreat before 
the enemy, and fall a prey to a people devoted 
to destruction ; and, more than this, God calls 
all the people accursed, and says, " Neither will 
I be w T ith you any more, except ye destroy the 
accursed from among you." But why ? what 
means this vengeance ? There was a sin com- 
mitted ; Achan had taken some of the spoil, 
contrary to the Divine permission. Here a sin- 



OF SALVATION. 21 

gle sin brought down the threatening^ of God 
against a whole nation. In short, look through 
the Bible, and you will see one threatening 
full of temporal, and another full of eternal 
plagues ; one full of external, and another 
of internal and spiritual woes ; and all directed 
against sin. 

Fourth. View sin in the judgments of God. 
In one nation, thousands are falling before the 
avenging enemy ; the sword is glutted with 
blood. In another, as many are swept off by 
pestilence ; and all are wearing out by time. 
Go to the churchyards, and see the rubbish of 
many generations. Find you nothing of sin in 
all this ? As Jehu exclaimed, when he saw the 
dead sons of Ahab, " Who slew all these ?" Who 
brought down these sons of pride, that had just 
been exulting in warlike glory ? Who filled 
your churchyards with fathers and mothers, 
sons and daughters, high and low, rich and poor? 
Surely sin has done it ; for " as by one man sin 
entered into the world, and death by sin ; and 
so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
sinned." 

Fifth. Listen to one under conviction of sin ; 
read the eighty-eighth Psalm ; andthere'witness 
the trouble of a soul filled with the terrors of the 
wrath of God. Now, when you see one thus 



22 THE GREAT CONCERN 

crying out in anguish of spirit, and tossed by 
the billows of divine wrath, were you to ask the 
occasion of all his distress, he would tell you, 
sin has caused it all. 

Sixth. View sin in the hateful and enormous 
crimes that are committed. They bring infamy 
and disgrace even in the eyes of men. Human 
nature, corrupt as it is, shrinks at their enormity. 
There are sins which " are not so much as 
named among the Gentiles." Now, if a man be 
guilty of these, he becomes odious, even in the 
eyes of the world. But why 1 what is there so 
odious in these crimes, that men flee from the 
persons guilty of them ? There is sin in them ; 
and hence they are so hateful ; and the only 
thing that distinguishes these from others, is 
their circumstantial aggravations ; for in their 
nature all sins agree. The least of them, as 
well as the greatest, is a violation of the holy 
law of God, and a contempt of the great Law- 
giver. And if sin appears so odious in these 
crying enormities, in reality it is as much so 
when less perceptible in sins more familiar to 
our corrupt natures. 

Seventh. View sin in the case of the finally 
lost. O ! could you look into the pit of wo, and 
see the damned in chains of darkness, you might 
then have some sense of the evil of sin. It is sin 



OF SALVATION. 23 

which has kindled the flames of everlasting- fire. 
It is sin which thrusts the damned down to hell ; 
it is sin which holds them there, and will hold 
them there forever. Could you have a just 
impression of these things, how hateful would 
sin appear ! 

Eighth. View sin in the sufferings of Christ. 
Here, sinner, as in a glass, behold your own 
heart. You think it a little matter that you have 
sinned ; you "roll sin as a sweet morsel under 
your tongue." But come, now, and see it hold- 
ing the sword ; or rather thrusting it into the 
Saviour's side ! Here is a sight which made 
the earth tremble, and the sun hide his f ice. 
Here you see how God looks upon sin. All 
the affection he bore to the Son of his eternal 
love, could not stay the hand of justice from in- 
flicting death upon him, for the sin of the world. 
Here you may see more of the evil of sin than 
anywhere else. Deep indeed must the pollu- 
tion be, if nothing but the blood of the Son of 
God could wash it away. Never did we have 
more dreadful evidence of the power of sin 
than when it blinded the eyes of men, so that 
they could not discern " the glory of the only 
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth ;" 
though his Divine nature daily beamed through 
his human, in words which none but God could 



24 THE GREAT CONCERN 

speak, and works which none but God could 
do. Yet such was the power of sin, that it hur- 
ried men to the awful crime of imbruing their 
hands in the blood of the Son of God. 

But perhaps some may ask, what have we to 
do with this ? We have never put to death the 
Son of God, and hence we cannot here see any 
crime of our own. But suppose we grant what 
you say as to your innocence in this matter, yet 
here we see much of the nature of sin ; since all 
sin partakes of the same common nature, and is 
every way equal to, if not the very same, against 
which God in so awful a manner manifested his 
displeasure, when he " spared not his own Son," 
but "laid on him the iniquity of us all." But 
does not that very sin lie at your door? Dare 
you raise your eyes to Heaven, and say, that 
you received Christ the first time an offer of him 
was made to you ? If not, then you do as much 
as to say that putting him to death was no crime. 
By your conduct you justify the Jews, and thus 
in their crimes you may see your own. There 
can be no neutral ground here. All to whom 
the Gospel comes, must be either for or against 
the Jews in their rejecting and crucifying Christ ; 
and in no other way can we give testimony 
against them, than by believing the Gospel re- 
port, that he was the Son of God, the Saviour of 



OF SALVATION. 25 

the world. So far as we lack this belief, we are 
guilty of the death of Christ ; for unbelief sub- 
scribes to the charge of the Jews against him, 
and declares him an impostor. You are either 
a believer or an unbeliever. If a believer, then 
it was for your very sins that Christ was cruci- 
fied. For " he was wounded for our transgres- 
sions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the 
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and 
with his stripes we are healed. All we, like 
sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned every 
one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all." If you are an unbe- 
liever, then you reject the witness Christ gave 
of himself; and therefore you practically declare 
him an impo-stor, and worthy of death ; and you 
virtually give your consent to the cruelty of the 
Jews in the sentence of his condemnation. 

II. Notice also some of the great evils im- 
plied in sin. 

First. The least sin has atheism in it. An 
Atheist, or one who denies the existence of a 
God, is a creature so degenerate, that some have 
doubted whether there ever was a human being 
who disbelieved the existence of God. But 
there are many practical Atheists, who "profess 
that they know God, but in works they deny 
him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto 
3 



26 THE GREAT CONCERN 

every good work reprobate." The Psalmist 
thus describes the natural man : " The fool hath 
said in his heart, There is no God." From this 
state of the heart flows a train of practical im- 
pieties ; " Corrupt are they, and have done 
abominable iniquity ; there is none that doeth 
good." Now the Psalmist here speaks of the 
whole race of Adam ; and the Apostle to the 
Romans employs the passage above quoted to 
prove that " all have sinned, and come short of 
the glory of God." And, indeed, do we not all 
deny his sovereignty when we violate his laws ? 
When we commit sin, do we not deny and dis- 
honour his holiness ? Do we not disparage his 
wisdom, when we set up our own will as the 
guide of our actions ? And do we not deny his 
all-sufficiency when we find more in sin or in 
the creature than in him ? In short, sin, one 
way or another, is a denial of all God's attributes, 
and therefore every sin has Atheism in it ; and 
they who are most ready to question this truth 
are probably the most guilty. 

Second. Every sin has idolatry in it. But 
you say you have never bowed down to an idol ; 
you were better taught. But do you think that 
Pagan rites alone have idolatry in them ? The 
pr©phet Ezekiel speaks of those who were as 
punctual as you are in attending upon the ex- 



OF SALVATIOX. 27 

ternal duties of religion ; they were externally 
in covenant with God as well as you. Nor is it 
at all improbable that they abjured external 
idolatry ; for the Jews after the Babylonish cap- 
tivity, when Ezekiel lived, never followed idols 
as before. Yet hear the message of the Prophet 
to them : " Son of man, these men have set up 
their idols in their heart, and have put the 
stumbling-block of their iniquity before their 
face." Every one is an idolater who gives to 
any thing but God that place in his heart which 
belongs to God alone. Who is not guilty of this 
when he serves sin ? For by serving sin, he 
substitutes either himself or Satan in God's 
room. 

Third. Sin has blasphemy in it. It reproaches 
God. They who " set their mouth against the 
heavens" are not the only blasphemers, but 
those also who reproach God in their actions. 
" But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, 
whether he be born in the land or a stranger, 
the same reproacheth the Lord ; and that soul 
shall be cut off from among his people. Because 
he hath despised the word of the Lord and 
hath broken his commandment, that soul shall 
be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon 
him." God in his laws designed to manifest 
his wisdom as the Supreme Governor of the 



28 THE GREAT CONCERN 

world. But the sinner's conduct charges God 
with folly, inasmuch as he prefers his own will 
to the divine commands. Sin also reproaches 
God's goodness ; for in refusing subjection to 
his laws, the sinner practically declares that 
these laws have not sufficient goodness in them 
to claim his obedience ; that God by them has 
deprived him of that good which ought to have 
been conceded. And sin likewise reproaches 
the righteousness and holiness of God ; for these 
attributes are stamped upon that law, w T hich 
sinners reject and trample on. " He that be- 
lieveth not God hath made him a liar," and to 
disbelieve God is to accuse him either of un- 
righteousness or folly. Now this part of the 
charge goes even beyond Atheism ; for the 
Atheist entirely disowns God, and so entertains 
no such unsuitable thoughts of him as he who 
owns him, and yet by his practice accuses him 
of ignorance, unrighteousness or folly. 

Fourth. Every sin has robbery in it. One 
part of God's glory, which he has said he will 
not give to another, is his absolute dominion. 
Now every sinner, so far as he disobeys God, 
endeavours to take from him the command and 
exercise it himself, or give it to another, than 
which there can be no greater robbery. He 
who obeys the command, gives God the glory 



OF SALVATION. 29 

of his authority and owns him Governor of the 
world. And this is a part of God's property ; 
it is the revenue he requires of the world ; but 
the sinner, by every sin he commits, endeavours 
to rob him of this glory. " Will a man rob 
God? yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, 
Wherein have we robbed thee ? In tithes and 
offerings ! Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye 
have robbed me, even this whole nation." So 
sinners now may ask, Wherein have we robbed 
God ? We may reply, You have robbed him 
of that which is far more valuable than tithes 
and offerings. In every sin you rob him of 
that which is better to him than sacrifice. " Hath 
the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and 
sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? 
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to 
hearken than the fat of rams." 

Fifth. Every sin has rebellion in it. The in- 
famy of rebellion has often been put upon men 
for disobeying the unlawful and impious com- 
mands of their fellow-men, while disobedience 
to God has received a more mild and favourable 
name. But if we call things by their right 
names, sin alone is rebellion, and of this crime 
every sinner is guilty. "If ye will not obey 
the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the 
commandments of the Lord, then shall the 
3* 



30 THE GREAT CONCERN 

hand of the Lord be against you." Thus you 
see that God has declared disobedience and 
rebellion to be the same thing, and hence every , 
sin is rebellion against God. 

Sixth. Every sin has murder in it. If he 
that "hateth his brother is a murderer," cer- 
tainly he who sins against his own soul is no 
less so. It is sin that destroys the soul ; and 
he who practises sin does that which murders 
not the body only, but body and soul. The 
sinner is therefore a self-murderer. But again, 
if he who "hateth his brother is a murderer," 
and if "the carnal mind is enmity against 
God," is the latter offence deserving of a milder 
name than the former 1 Not that every one 
who hates his brother intends to murder him ; 
but that hatred to a brother, so far as it goes, 
tends that way ; nor that every sinner intends 
to dethrone and destroy his Maker ; bat that 
sin, so far as it goes, tends that way. If enmity 
to God were acted out without limit, it would 
take away the divine sovereignty, and with it, 
the divine will and glory; and without these, 
God, as God, could not exist. 

We have now seen, that in sinning you are 
guilty of atheism, idolatry, blasphemy, robbery, 
rebellion, and murder. But, 

III. These offences, in themselves considered, 



OF SALVATION. 31 

are not all ; they are attended with many fear- 
ful aggravations, which, as it were, are so many 
ciphers put after the figures, that, though in 
themselves nothing, when put after, swell the 
number to a prodigious amount. 

First. You have sinned in the face of all the 
Divine threatenings. When the torments of hell 
have been before you, you have still dared to 
provoke the Most High ; thus despising these 
evidences of his anger. Who, in some remark- 
able instance or other, has not seen the judg- 
ments of God against sinners ? And yet you go 
on in sin. You sin against glorious Gospel or- 
dinances, all of which are designed to prevent 
or destroy sin. You have sinned against the 
strivings of the Holy Spirit, which are given in 
mercy to lead you to repentance. And you 
have sinned against Jesus Christ, who has died 
for the sins of men. The God who has pro- 
vided all these helps against sin, is the God 
against whom you have rebelled in all these 
fearful violations of his law. 

Second. You have sinned against God, not- 
withstanding all the favours with which he has 
loaded you. Sad requital for all his loving- 
kindness ; " Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O 
earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have nou- 



32 THE GREAT CONCERN 

rished and brought up children, and they have 
rebelled against me." 

Thousands of the Divine favours are shown 
you every day. God loads you with his bene- 
fits, while you load yourselves with sins against 
him. You make these very mercies, as it were, 
weapons of unrighteousness to fight against him. 
"Whatever good you see around you, whatever 
you enjoy, you have from him. In him you 
live, and move, and have your being. There- 
fore your sins are all acts of great ingratitude ; 
and in this respect man is worse than the beasts 
of the field. "The ox knoweth his owner, and 
the ass his master's crib." The dullest beast 
knows who treats him kindly, and gives indica- 
tions of gratitude for the kindness ; but sinners 
rebel against the God of their mercies, and thus 
are guilty of the grossest ingratitude. Reader, 
will you continue thus to requite the Lord ? 

Third. All this wickedness is without any 
provocation. When subjects rebel against their 
rulers, they will plead some excuse for their 
rebellion. But w r hat can you say to justify 
rebellion against God ? What fault have you 
found in him that you should forsake his ways ? 
" Produce your cause, saith the Lord ; bring 
forth your strong reasons, saith the king of 
Jacob." He made the universe, and placed 



OF SALVATION. 33 

you upon the earth. He sustains you by his 
power, and every hour gives you the tokens of 
his kindness. By his wisdom he guides the 
affairs of earth and heaven, and provides for 
your every want, and there is none like him to 
be his competitor. Who then can dispute his 
claim to the sovereignty of the world ? Who 
can say that any of his laws are unjust ? " Shall 
not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" Who 
will dare to plead that any of the Divine laws 
are too strict in their demands ? For who can- 
not see that society is prosperous and happy, 
just in proportion as men yield to the wisdom 
of the Divine laws 1 And thus you sin without 
the least prospect of advantage. You " spend 
your money for that which is not bread, and 
your labour for that which satisfieth not." 
Could you plead the possibility of advantage, 
or were you overcome by temptation which 
there were no means of avoiding or resisting, 
your case would be otherwise ; but this you 
dare not plead, you can plead nothing but that 
you are guilty. 

This is the charge against you ; what have 
you to answer to it ? You must say with Job ; 
" If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall con- 
demn me ; if I say I am perfect, it shall also 
prove me perverse." If you acknowledge your 



34 THE GREAT CONCERN 

guilt, as certainly you must, what means your 
indifference ? Why are you not alarmed for 
your soul? Do you not believe that "it is a 
fearful thing- to fall into the hands of the living" 
God ?" Is the punishment of iniquity nothing 
to be dreaded? Plead not, reader, that your 
conscience has never accused you of the sins 
which have now been charged upon you. You 
may have laboured to keep the eyes of your 
conscience closed, lest it should reprove you, 
and give you pain; or your sins may have 
lulled it to sleep, so that, if it speak at all, its 
voice is too feeble to rouse you from your in- 
difference. And if the frequency of your sins 
has rendered you insensible to their malignity, 
you cannot plead that you are the less guilty. 
If God has declared your sins to be what 
they have now been represented, beware that 
you be not found disputing and fighting against 
God. 

Section II. Witnesses produced to prove the 
charge. — First. God is witness against you, as 
he was against his people of old. " Even I 
know, and am a witness, saith the Lord." 
"And if we say that we have not sinned, we 
make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 
Such are the words of the just Judge of all the 



OF SALVATION. 35 

earth ; and therefore there canbe no malice or in- 
justice in your condemnation. "As 1 live, 
saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from 
his way and live." Certainly it could be no 
pleasure to him to ruin the work of his own 
hands. You cannot then question the validity 
of this witness. 

Second. Jesus Christ, the Amen and Faithful 
Witness, gives evidence against you. He came 
to bear witness of the truth. "He that be- 
lieveth on him is not condemned, but he that 
believeth not is condemned already, because 
he hath not believed in the name of the only 
begotten Son of God." The very name of 
Christ is a witness. He is called Jesus, be- 
cause " he shall save his people from their 
sins." This implies that they are all sinners. 

Third. The Holy Spirit is a witness. It is 
one of the offices of the Spirit to convince of 
sin. "And when he is come, he will reprove 
the world of sin." And if this witness should 
speak to your heart and conscience, as he 
sometimes speaks, you would need no more 
witnesses. Thus, the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit bear record, and set their seal to this 
truth. Now the testimony of two men of vera- 
city is sufficient to prove a man guilty, however 



36 THE GREAT CONCERN 

great the crime alleged against him ; but " if we 
receive the witness of men, the witness of God 
is greater." 

Fourth. Your own conscience is witness 
against you. I appeal to this. You do indeed 
bear witness against yourselves. Those who 
are baptized do it in baptism ; for, as "the whole 
need not a physician, but they that are sick," 
so the clean need not washing, but the defiled ; 
and he who washes admits his need of cleans- 
ing. Your attendance on Gospel ordinances 
is a witness against you, that you are defiled 
with sin ; for all these ordinances aim at the 
salvation of sinners. The very name Christian 
is a witness ; for if you are a Christian, you be- 
long to Christ, and Christ's people are those 
whom he saves from their sins. He came to 
'* save his people from their sins." 

Fifth. The Sacred Scriptures are a witness. 
They are full of the sad truth, that you are a 
guilty sinner. " As it is written, there is none 
righteous, no, not one ; there is none that under- 
standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
They are all gone out of the way, they are to- 
gether become unprofitable, there is none that 
doeth good, no, not one." The Scriptures do 
not make one exception among all the sons of 
men. 



OF SALVATION'. 37 

Sixth. The preachers of the Gospel are wit- 
nesses against you, that you have sinned. This 
testimony is implied in the very design of their 
office. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to Ti- 
mothy, states that the object of preachers of the 
Gospel should be to save themselves and others. 
When they preach Christ to you, they proclaim 
your need of him, because of your sins. When 
they offer you a Saviour, they in effect assert 
that you are lost ; for none but the lost have 
need of a Saviour to save them. When they 
preach repentance, they affirm that all have 
sins which render repentance necessary.- When 
they entreat you to be reconciled to God, their 
words imply that you are his enemy. And 
when they preach Christ to you, you must 
either receive or reject him. If you receive 
him, it is testimony that you were a sinner, and 
in need of him. If you reject him, you stand 
charged with unbelief, one of the greatest sins. 
u He that believeth not God, hath made him a 
liar, because he believeth not the record that 
God gave of his Son; and this is the record, that 
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life 
is in his Son." 

Seventh. The whole creation asserts that all 
have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
God. " The whole creation groaneth, and tra- 
4 



38 THE GREAT CONCERN 

vaileth in pain together until now." And it is 
" the bondage of corruption," sin, which causes 
the groans. The sin of man has caused it all. 
The beasts which you wear out with toil, to ad- 
minister to your wants, or abuse to administer 
to your pleasures, or torment when you are 
angry; and the animals which you slaughter 
for your daily meat, all groan for your sin. 
And were your ears not deafened by sin, you 
would hear the groans of the very ground upon 
which you tread, the food which you eat, and 
the clothes which you wear. It is not the use, 
it is the perversion of the creation, which makes 
the groaning. The sun that shines upon the 
sinner seems to groan, that it must give light to 
one who uses that light as an occasion of sin- 
ning against God. The earth groans in thunders, 
and lightnings, and whirlwinds, and volcanoes, 
and earthquakes, and pestilence, and famine, and 
war, that its surface must bear the oppressive 
load of man's sin. And the food that we eat 
complains, that it must be perverted to serve 
man's lust, and give him that strength which he 
spends in sinning against God. "The stone 
shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of 
the timber shall answer it." 

Eighth. Finally, the judgments of God are 
witnesses. What has filled the earth with mi- 



OF SALVA.TION. 39 

sery and death ? Can there be an instance of 
suffering that is not a witness of sin ? " Re- 
member, I pray thee, who ever perished being 
innocent ?" " Affliction cometh not forth of the 
dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the 
ground." And above all, the unparalleled suf- 
ferings of Christ bear the most incontestible 
witness to the sins of man ; "for he was wound- 
ed for our transgressions." And death bears 
fearful testimony that man has sinned ; for " the 
wages of sin is death." None then can plead 
freedom from guilt till they can plead exemp- 
tion from death. But as no man will pretend 
exemption from death, all evasions in this mat- 
ter must be vain. Reader, you may deceive 
yourself, if you choose, up to the hour of death. 
But death will strip off every mask, and make 
you honest. It will convince you that you have 
sinned, and for your sins, your soul is lost. 

Section III. Address to different classes 
of persons. — The apostle John, in the second 
chapter of his first Epistle, includes all sorts and 
ages of persons in three classes, " little child- 
ren," " young men," and " fathers ;" or the 
young, the middle aged, and the aged. Before 
addressing these three classes separately, a few 
preliminary remarks are necessary. Our ob- 



40 THE GREAT CONCERN 

ject should be to be useful here, and happy 
hereafter. God has appointed us our work ; 
and whether he has given us much or little, we 
are to employ it all to promote his glory in the 
world ; and thoughts, words, and actions, not 
subservient to our usefulness, or our ultimate 
happiness, are sinful. We were not made for 
ourselves alone, but for the world ; and, there- 
fore, we are to labour for the temporal and 
eternal good of others, as well as ourselves. 
And it is obvious that much of our fitness or 
unfitness for this end must depend upon the 
right or wrong management of childhood and 
youth. Childhood and youth are, as it were, a 
mould in which men are cast. Every one 
knows the permanence of early impressions. 
The Sacred Scriptures recognise the same : 
" Train up a child in the way he should go, 
and when he is old he will not depart from it." 
It is equally important for all to remember 
that the Divine " commandment is exceeding 
broad." It is more than a law of external ac- 
tions. We may avoid wicked external actions, 
and still come short of obeying the Divine com- 
mands. Not only will God " bring every work 
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether 
it be good, or whether it be evil ;" but " every 
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give 



OF SALVATION. 41 

an account thereof in the day of judgment ;" 
and thoughts also are to be taken into the ac- 
count ; for " the thought of foolishness is sin." 
" How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within 
thee?" was Jeremiah's reproof to Jerusalem. 
Indeed, it is obvious that all is wrong, while the 
thoughts are wronsf. For as a man " thinketh 
in his heart, so is he." If the thoughts of the 
heart are right, the actions will also be right ; 
but if the thoughts be evil, whatever the actions 
may be, they do not proceed from right motives, 
and therefore they are sinful. Even the 
"ploughing of the wicked," is said to be "sin." 
Not that the wicked should cease from plough- 
ing, but that they can do nothing acceptable to 
God, while their hearts are not right in his 
sight. And the Scriptures teach that we came 
into the world with wicked, depraved hearts ; 
and thus the broadness of the command reaches 
to every period of life. The Psalmist exclaims, 
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity." "The 
wicked are estranged from the womb ; they go 
astray as soon as they are born." Augustine 
bitterly lamented the sins of his childhood. 
"Was it not ill and sin," said he, "to seek 
with tears what would have proved hurtful if it 
had been given ? to be angry with those who 
were nowise obliged to be under my command, 
4* 



42 THE GREAT CONCERN 

because they would not obey me ? Was it not 
ill, that I endeavoured to strike even those who 
were every way my superiors, because they 
would not obey me in those things wherein they 
could not obey, without hurt either to me or 
some others ?" 

In prosecuting this subject, three things must 
be kept in mind. First, all the thoughts, words, 
and deeds of one who has not been "born 
again," are sinful ; for a good tree cannot bring 
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring 
forth good fruit." Secondly, whatever has not 
respect to the glory of God, as its end, is sin. 
" Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or what- 
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
Thirdly, whatever is not done in the name of 
Christ, as the one through whom our persons 
and performances are to be accepted, is sin ; 
"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all 
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to 
God and the Father by him." 

I. Children and young persons, I have a 
message to you from God. All of you, even 
the youngest, " have sinned, and come short of 
the glory of God ;" that is, you have done that 
for which you will be cast, soul and body, into 
hell, if you are not reconciled to God through 
Jesus Christ. 



OF SALVATION. 43 

If you reatl lie fifty-first Psalm, you will see 
that you were born sinners. And every day 
brings you intelligence of the death of some 
person, once as young, as healthy, and appa- 
rently as likely to live as you. And if God 
should now take you away by death, what 
would become of you, if you are not reconciled 
to him ? 

Perhaps you wish to know what some of the 
sins are of which you are guilty. Did you 
never disobey your parents? If you did, you 
disobeyed God ; for God commands children to 
obey and honour their parents. And when 
your parents or teachers have corrected you for 
your faults, were you never angry at them? 
If so, it was sinful. It is sinful to be angry at 
them ; and sinful not to do better when cor- 
rected. " Correction is grievous unto him that 
forsaketh the way ; and he that hateth reproof 
shall die." Tell me, when you had thoughts 
that you were ill-treated by some of your com- 
panions, did you never desire to be avenged ? 
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but 
rather give place unto wrath." Do you not 
sometimes become angry with your companions, 
and call them by opprobrious or reproachful 
names ? This then is another sin. Whoever 
calls his brother a " fool, shall be in danger of 



44 THE GREAT CONCERN 

hell-fire." Do you not sometimes wish to be 
out of sight of your parents, or teachers, so as 
to do what you would fear to do in their pre- 
sence ? If so, surely you must have forgotten 
that God is everywhere, or you would never 
presume to do before him, what you dare not 
do before your parents. Have you not been 
glad when the Sabbath day was over, or at 
least when divine service was closed ? Has it 
not been a burden to you to sit so long in the 
house of worship 1 And during divine wor- 
ship, are you not thinking of your sports and 
your pastime ? or what is worse, talking to one 
another, instead of listening to the preacher ? 
This is also sinful; for God regards those as 
mockers, who draw nigh to him with their lips, 
or with forms of worship, while their hearts are 
far from him. Do you pray to God morning 
and evening ? I fear that many of you are so 
wicked as to forget or neglect to pray morning 
and evening. If you have never been guilty 
of stealing, have you not sometimes been guilty 
of telling lies, or of profane swearing? Now 
the Bible tells us, that such persons " shall have 
their part in the lake that burns with fire and 
brimstone." Did you never go to your play 
when you should have gone to your prayers ? 
And what will become of children, who think 



OF SALVATION. 45 

more of their sports than of God and their 
souls ? I will ask you but one question more, 
and that is, if possible, to awaken you to a 
concern for your soul. Do you ever think of 
death ? If you look into a grave when it is 
opened, instead of one who has life, who can 
speak and walk, you see nothing but lifeless 
remains, fast returning to dust. But in a little 
while you will be thus mouldering in the grave. 
You must certainly die, and you know not how 
soon. And if the sins of which I have told 
you, and probably very many other sins of 
which I know nothing, be not forgiven, you 
cannot be saved. Will you not then repent of 
sin immediately? 

But perhaps you wish to be told what you 
must do in order to be saved. First of all, give 
your heart to the Lord. Repent and turn to 
him. Pray like the distressed publican ; " Lord, 
be merciful to me a sinner," say, " Lord, thou 
hast promised a new heart to sinners like me, 
and I have need of it, for my heart is very 
wicked. Save me from my sins, for Christ's 
sake." Who knows but that the Lord, who 
hears the lions and the ravens when they cry 
for food, may hear you. Read your Bible and 
your Catechism ; but first pray to God to bless 
them to you, and make you understand what 



46 THE GREAT CONCERN 

you read. Do not lie, nor swear, nor break the 
Sabbath, nor commit any of the sins of which I 
have told you ; and, in short, strive to avoid 
every sin whatever. Avoid the company of 
those who lie, swear, and break the Sabbath ; 
for they will try to make you as bad as them- 
selves. "A companion of fools shall be de- 
stroyed," but "he that walketh with wise men 
shall be wise." Never forget to pray to God 
as soon as you rise in the morning, and before 
you lie down to sleep at night. 

Now there are many things to encourage you 
to follow the advice now given. A promise 
is made to those who seek God early in life. 
" I love them that love me, and those that seek 
me early shall find me." Samuel, Abijah, 
Josiah, and Timothy, are highly commended in 
the Bible for their early piety. Our Saviour 
received little children with the most tender 
affection. He says of them, " Suffer little 
children to come unto me, and forbid them 
not." "And he took them up in his arms, 
put his hands upon them, and blessed them." 
O, if you knew how good he is, you would not 
rest till you should know how he is to be 
found, and then you would immediately go to 
him. If you seek God early, God will bless 
you ; and his people will bless you ; and all 



OF SALVATION. 47 

generations will call you blessed. O, then, 
make glad the hearts of your parents, and the 
people of God ; make glad your own heart, by 
seeking the Lord and saving your soul. 

II. I have a few words to persons in middle 
life. It has already been shown that all are 
defiled with sin ; but a few particulars in refer- 
ence to this class of persons will be needful. 

First. What, then, is your conduct in the 
house of God, if you are ever found there ? 
When you go to the place of worship, what 
induces you to go ? Is it mere custom ? Is it 
fear of being less respected by staying away? 
Do you go to stop the mouth of conscience by 
a form of worship, without the spirit of it ? Do 
you go to see and be seen, to gratify curiosity? 
What is your conduct in the house of worship ? 
Do you listen to the preaching of the Gospel as 
an idle tale ? Do you apply the truth to others, 
and not to yourselves ? Do you observe the 
manner in which the truth is spoken, more than 
the truth itself? Do you listen to the word at 
all, or are your thoughts wandering upon other 
matters ? Once more I ask, what good do you 
obtain by going to the house of God ? Do you 
get convictions and then cast them off? Do 
you hear calls to repentance, and disregard 
them ? reproofs, and hate them ? instructions, 



48 THE GREAT CONCERN 

and forget them ? Who of you can candidly 
answer these questions, without confessing that 
he has committed very aggravated sins even in 
the place and hour of Avorship ? 

Second. If we follow you to your daily em- 
ployments, how shall we find you conducting 
there ? If you have no regular and lawful em- 
ployment, then this is a sin ; but if you have, 
did you ask God to direct you in your choice 
among the various occupations of life ? " In 
all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall 
direct thy paths." Did you then acknowledge 
God in the choice of your occupation ? Do you 
endeavour to ascertain how you can glorify God 
in your daily employments ? Are there not 
many of you who never had one thought of 
glorifying God in your employments ? And do 
you look to God for a blessing on the works of 
your hands ? To whom do you attribute the 
success of your efforts ? Do you ever bless 
God for that success ? And when successful, 
what use do you make of your success ? Does 
it make you humble, or lift you up ? Do you 
spend the gifts of God in the service of sin, or 
as the Gospel requires? 

Third. If you were to be examined in your 
intercourse with the world, how would you 
stand the test ? Do you love communications 



OF SALVATION. 49 

that are made in the fear of God, or those which 
are not ? " Evil communications corrupt good 
manners." " He that walketh with wise men 
shall be wise ; but a companion of fools shall 
be destroyed." What company do you most 
delight in ? " Blessed is the man that walketh 
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth 
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of 
the scornful." And if you are pleased with 
the company of religious persons, is it their af- 
fability, their discretion, their learning, or some 
other good quality, if they possess any of these 
things ; or is it their religion which most pleases 
you ? Let me entreat you to inquire every night 
of your soul, how you have conducted through 
the day ; what has been your conversation ; 
whether you have bridled your tongue, or em- 
ployed it in speaking vain and idle words. " If 
any man among you seemeth to be religious, 
and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his 
own heart, this man's religion is vain." Have 
you spoken evil of any one? "Put them in 

mind to speak evil of no man." Hott 

grossly do men violate these precepts every day. 
All of you stand, in some way or other, re- 
lated to others, either as masters or servants, 
parents or children, husbands or wives. These 
relations demand peculiar duties. Have you 






50 THE GREAT CONCERN 

fulfilled or even thought of half these duties ? 
In engaging persons in your employment, did 
you ask for direction from God? It is to be 
feared, that even in a matter so important as the 
choice of husbands and wives, few go to God in 
prayer for his direction. Again, how do you 
conduct in these relations ? And do you ask 
God to teach you your duty in them all ? And 
especially I would ask, do you seek the spiritual 
good of all connected with you in these rela- 
tions? Masters, servants, parents, children, 
husbands, wives, do you pray for one another ? 
Can there be husbands and wives, who never 
pray for each other ? Parents for children, and 
children for parents, will toil with long patience 
for the body ; when perhaps they have never 
prayed for each other's salvation. 

Fourth. In your seasons of secret worship, 
how are you occupied? Do you take more 
time in the morning for adorning your bodies 
than your souls ? Nay, do not some of you go 
to your daily employment without praying to 
God at all ? If you pray in secret, what leads 
you to it, a conscientious regard to duty, or cus- 
tom, or some other wrong motive ? And is the 
duty a burden, or is it pleasant to you ? Can 
you say that you perform it in such a manner 
as to receive the promised blessing in return ? 



OF SALVATION. 51 

And in your hours of worship, and also at other 
times, what thoughts most readily come into 
- your minds, those about your body, or your 
soul ; those about God or those about the world? 
What thoughts do you most delight in ? If the 
thoughts be earthly, so must be your mind, and 
11 to be carnally minded is death." And now, 
if these general views now given discover so 
many sins, what would be the amount, were we 
to reckon every vain and wicked act, and word, 
and thought, as will be done in the day of judg- 
ment ? And if every sin deserves the wrath of 
God, what must be the desert of those who step 
into eternity laden with the guilt of innumera- 
ble transgressions? Think, O think on these 
things before it be too late. 

III. I have also a message to the aged. Your 
faces speak your age, and tell that there is but 
a step betwixt you and eternity. And are not 
these very faces proof of sin ? Why are those 
once smooth, now covered with the wrinkles of 
age and the paleness of approaching death ? 
Has not sin, or God on account of sin, done it 
all ? " Thou hast filled me with wrinkles," said 
Job, " which is a witness against me, and my 
leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my 
face." If you are not sinners, why that trem- 
bling of the hands, that dimness of the eyes, and 



52 THE GREAT CONCERN 






that tottering step ? And have you not the sins 
of a whole life to account for ? Of the wicked 
it is said, " His bones are full of the sins of his 
youth, which shall lie down with him in the 
dust." You have lived to old age, and there- 
fore have had much time given you ; but how 
has it been improved ? What have you done 
for God ? You were made to glorify him ; but 
are there not many of you who never had one 
serious thought of advancing the glory of God ? 
If so, then your whole life has been one con- 
tinued course of sin. As many as have been 
your thoughts, words, and actions, so many are 
your sins. And what have you done for your 
souls during a long life ? We have a work to 
perform in regard to our salvation; God has 
given us a day for it, which is to be followed by 
a night wherein no man can work. Your day 
is almost spent. Is it not twilight with many 
of you already ? Are not the shadows of even- 
ing falling upon you, and your work is not yet 
begun ? Awful condition ! Your work not 
begun ! A work sufficient for many years not 
yet begun, when your sun is setting to leave 
you in eternal night ! 

Have you been suitably affected with the 
sins of others when you have observed them? 
Have you done your duty in bearing testimony 



OF SALVATION. 53 

to the truth of God, when you have seen it 
despised and rejected ? Have you beheld the 
transgressors without grief? Have you prayed 
that the sins you have seen in others might be 
forgiven ? " If any man see his brother sin a 
sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and 
he shall give him life for them that sin not unto 
death." Has it been your endeavour, in all 
suitable ways and times, to reprove sin, and to 
prevent it in yourself and others ? 

You have witnessed many providences, per- 
haps many judgments of God ; and what effect 
have these had upon you? Have they made 
you better, or have you become hardened under 
them? Have your experiences brought you 
nearer to God, or driven you farther from him ? 
And how have his mercies affected you ? Do 
you know the God of your mercies ? Has the 
goodness of God led you to repentance ? When 
food and raiment and every earthly good has 
been granted you, have you lifted up your 
heart and voice in thankfulness to the Giver of 
mercy? When delivered from sickness, pain, 
and peril, did you thank the Lord for deliver- 
ance ? When he has thus dealt mercifully and 
bountifully with you, have you loved him more 
and more, or has it all served only to fix your 



54 THE GREAT CONCERN 

heart more firmly upon the world ? Let con- 
science speak, and will it not tell you of un-. 
numbered sins? The bloom of youth has 
withered on your brow ; your silver locks bear 
witness that nature is hastening to decay. You 
know that the silver cord with you must soon 
be loosed, and the golden bowl be broken. Are 
you then prepared to lay your bodies down 
in the grave in the hope of the resurrection 
of the just? 

Finally. You have lived long, and death is 
at your door. Are you prepared and willing 
to die, when the time of your departure shall 
arrive ? Some desire to die because they are 
disappointed and vexed with the world ; but 
none are prepared to die but those who are pre- 
pared to " die in the Lord." Have you pro- 
vided your lodgings? When our houses are 
falling, it is time to look for new lodgings. 
This tabernacle is ready to be dissolved ; have 
you secured a building of God, a house not 
made with hands ? You have had good oppor- 
tunity for doing all this, and great are your sins 
if the work is not yet begun. The warnings 
which you read in these pages, if you give 
no heed to them, will aggravate your guilt. 
Consider your case before it be too late. You 



OF SALVATION. 55 

have waited till the eleventh hour and have 
done nothing, one hour more of delay will seal 
your doom. 

Section IV. Satisfaction required of the 
sinner. — It is not consistent with the wisdom of 
our great Lawgiver, that sin should be unpu- 
nished. His providence and his word agree, that 
"though hand join in hand, the wicked shall 
not be unpunished." No power of men or 
angels can prevent it ; and nothing can conceal 
us from the omniscient eye. "Whither shall I 
go from thy Spirit, and whither shall I flee from 
thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou 
art there ; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou 
art there. If I take the wings of the morning 
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 
even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy 
right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the 
darkness shall cover me ; even the night shall 
be light about me, yea, the darkness hideth not 
from thee ; but the night shineth as the day; 
the darkness and the light are both alike to 
thee." " There is no darkness nor shadow of 
death, where the workers of iniquity may hide 
themselves," either from the knowledge or the 
justice of the Almighty. 

First. There will be the forfeiture of your 



56 THE GREAT CONCERN 

estates. You invaded God's possessions ; he 
will cast you out of yours. This is the usual 
punishment of rebellion. In primeval inno- 
cence, man was in possession of a fair estate. 
He had a paradise furnished with the riches of 
uncorrupted nature ; a body free from pain ; a 
soul happy in communion with God ; deli- 
cious fruits in spontaneous abundance ; and all 
crowned with the blessing of Heaven. To this 
we may add the expectation of everlasting hap- 
piness in the paradise above. But all this has 
been forfeited by sin. Nor is it of any avail to 
say that, as you have houses, lands, food, rai- 
ment, and other things, you have therefore lost 
nothing ; for a rebel sentenced to die is allowed 
food and raiment, and other things necessary 
for the support of life, till the time of his execu- 
tion arrive. Thus God allows man the means 
of subsistence till he sees fit to put the sentence 
of death in execution. The grant by which 
innocent man held his possessions was the cove- 
nant of works. This, too, was the ground upon 
which he looked for the rewards of the future. 
But by the breach of that covenant was lost all 
right to any enjoyment. And with the title, 
you have lost the sweetness of the things you 
are yet permitted to use. What profit is there 
of all your labour under the sun? you labour, 



OF SALVATION'. 57 

but are never satisfied, and the day of your 
execution draws nigh. 

Second. But there will not only be this forfeit- 
ure, satisfaction will also be had in the death of 
the offenders. " In the day that thou eatest there- 
of, thou shalt surely die." " The soul that sinneth, 
it shall die." " The wages of sin is death." Nor 
is this limited to natural death ; it includes endless 
pain in a future state. Innocent man had a natural 
life, which consisted in a most delightful and har- 
monious union of soul and body. He had a spi- 
ritual life, which consisted in the union of his soul 
to God, in a manner suited to the happiness of his 
condition ; and he had a fair prospect of eter- 
nal life, in uninterrupted communion with his 
Maker. But these bright hopes were blasted by 
sin. The sinner is already condemned to die. 
"He that believeth not is condemned already." 
Nay, more ; the execution is already begun. 
Those who are not savingly changed by the 
Holy Spirit are spiritually dead ; " dead in tres- 
passes and sins." As a dead body cannot per- 
form the actions of a living one, so you cannot per- 
form any of the actions of spiritual life. Na- 
tural death, which consists in the separation of 
the soul and body, is also begun in you. Every 
disease that invades the body is like the posts 
that run to meet one another, " to show the 



58 THE GREAT CONCERN 

king* of Babylon that his city is taken at one 
end." Every pain you feel makes a breach in 
your walls, and forebodes their speedy ruin. 
Your life is nothing but a succession of dying. 
Every day and hour is wearing it away. Every 
fresh attack on your bodies is routing their 
guards, battering the ramparts of your flesh, 
and threatening the very citadel of life. You 
are the mark at which justice is aiming its 
arrows. Do you not see that the arrow some- 
times flies above your head, and slays one above 
you? Sometimes it lights at your feet, and 
slays a child; sometimes it flies on your left, 
and kills an enemy, at whose death you may, 
perhaps, wickedly rejoice ; sometimes it pierces 
the friend on your right hand ; and who has 
assured you that the next one may not strike 
you dead, and hurry you into hell ? ; 

Third. This is not all ; rebels are commonly 
shorn of their honour ; and so with the sinner. 
Innocent man enjoyed a high dignity; he was 
the friend, as well as the subject of God. But 
now hear his sentence ; " Thus saith the Lord 
God, remove the diadem, and take ofT the 
crown !" Tell me, reader, do you not already 
feel the direful effects of this part of the punish- 
ment? The beasts, once subject to man, are 
now his enemies, because he is the enemy of 



OF SALVATION. .59 

God. Even those that are most serviceable and 
obedient often rebel. The horse throws his 
rider ; the ox gores his owner ; wild beasts 
make inroads upon the flocks, fields, and fruits, 
and fill men with terror ; and even insects often 
insult and vex you, and sometimes inflict a 
wound which destroys life. Nor is the disgrace 
confined to the individual. It is handed down 
to posterity. And not only inborn corruption, 
but the contagion of your evil example must pro- 
duce its desolating effects upon those who come 
after you. God has declared himself " a jea- 
lous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers 
upon the children." Nothing which sinners 
have used can be spared. The very ground upon 
which they tread must undergo the fires of the 
last day, before it can be freed from the bond- 
age of corruption. " This is thy lot, the por- 
tion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, 
because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in 
falsehood." Such is the satisfaction required 
of sinners. 

Section V. Reasonableness of this Satisfac- 
tion. — That the satisfaction demanded of sin- 
ners, or the punishment inflicted, is reasonable, 
will be evident, if we consider, 

I. The demerit of sin. Consider against 



60 THE GREAT CONCERN 

whom sin is committed. We measure offences, 
in some degree, by the character of the persons 
against whom they are done ; and so it is in the 
laws of God. For some offences, the daughter 
of the high-priest was to be burned without 
mercy; which was not the punishment of others 
for the same offences. He that cursed his 
father or mother was to be put to death ; but no 
such punishment was inflicted upon any one 
for cursing his equals. On the other hand, 
God is the " high and lofty One, that inhabiteth 
eternity;" before him all nations " are as nothing ; 
and they are counted to him less than nothing, 
and vanity." What punishment, then, does 
reason show to be just for the sins of man against 
God ? True, we cannot injure our Maker, as a 
rebel may injure his prince. "If thou sinnest, 
what dost thou against Him? or if thy trans- 
gression be multiplied, what dost thou unto 
him?" We cannot scale the walls of heaven, 
and force our way to the Almighty's throne ; 
yet men are said to " rob God." The depth of 
the guilt of sin is, that it is committed against a 
holy God. Every sin reflects upon God's holi- 
ness, tramples on his authority, brands his wis- 
dom with folly, denies his goodness, and bids 
defiance to his power. Can endless punish- 
ment be too much for such crimes ? Consider, 



OF SALVATION. 61 

also, the obligations that sin tramples on. The 
obligations of children to parents, of subjects 
to their rulers, and of husbands and wives to 
each other, are such as to render the violation 
of them exceedingly sinful. But what are all 
these compared with our obligations to God ; 
who is not a finite earthly ruler or parent, but 
the infinite Father of mercies, and Supreme 
Ruler of the universe. 

Observe further, that sin deserves such a 
punishment in the judgment of God; and 
surely his judgment must be according to 
truth. We have this judgment not only in 
express declarations of Scripture, not only in 
the penal sanction of the law, but eminently 
in the death of Christ. If an infinite person 
must be laid under the wrath of God, stand 
in the sinner's room, and die for sins, what 
less does the sinner himself deserve than eter- 
nal wrath ? No wonder, then, that the finally 
impenitent are to be forever tormented for 
their sins. For, if God, without reproach to 
his goodness, could permit his sinless, divine, 
and dearly beloved Son to suffer for others' 
sins, much more could he justly permit sinful, 
impenitent man, to suffer endless punishment. 
And not only in the judgment of God, but in 
the judgment of men also, does sin deserve 
6 



62 THE GREAT CONCERN 

such a punishment. Notwithstanding the wild 
fancies of the heathen about a future state, 
they all admit the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment. Hence their poets represented Tanta- 
lus as doomed forever to be parched with 
thirst, standing in a river, of whose water he 
could never taste one drop ; Prometheus was 
to have a vulture forever tearing his liver ; 
Sisyphus was to be perpetually labouring to roll 
a huge stone, and Ixion, his wheel. And all 
the codes of human law prescribe perpetual 
imprisonment for some crimes, and death for 
others ; which is a deprivation of life and all 
its advantages forever ; and a deprivation of 
all opportunity of preparing for heaven. We 
might to this testimony add the acknowledg- 
ment of those who are punished. Whatever 
stupid sinners may think, when the Lord deals 
with men, and visits them with the terrors of 
an awakened conscience, convincing them of 
sin, they will subscribe to the justice of God, 
when he threatens eternal pain. It is not 
meant that they will be willing to be damned, 
but they will acknowledge that God would be 
just in thus punishing them. Even those who 
are given up to the horrors of despair give 
the same testimony. Listen to the words of 
Spira: "I am sealed up to eternal wrath. I 



OF SALVATION. 63 

tell you I deserve it ; my own conscience con- 
demns me ; what need is there of any other 
judge ? Though there were not another damned, 
yet God is just in making me an example to 
others ; and I cannot justly complain. There 
is no punishment so great, but I have justly de- 
served it." 

II. Consider, again, that God, in promul- 
gating his laws, did clearly declare that he 
would thus punish transgressors. Sin and end- 
less pain were then linked together. When it 
was required of Adam to keep the divine com- 
mands, it was also said to him, In the day that 
thou breakest them, " thou shalt surely die." 
To suppose that death here means annihilation, 
is contrary both to Scripture and reason. And 
if only temporal death were intended, it would 
be equivalent to saying, If thou disobey, thou 
shalt surely be rewarded with eternal life ; 
which would be absurd. Spiritual, everlasting 
death, then, must be intended. But if this 
penalty is annexed to the violation of the di- 
vine law, there is great reason why it should 
be executed. For to what purpose would the 
penalty be threatened, if it were not designed 
to be enforced ? To suppose the contrary 
would be to cast reproach both upon the wis- 
dom and veracity of God. Divine honour, 



64 THE GREAT CONCERN 

then, demands the execution of this law. In- 
deed, what is the business of an officer of jus- 
tice, but to execute the laws ? 

Justice requires the punishment of sinners. 
Justice to the law requires it. For if the law 
may be neglected in one part, why not in 
another? And if the threatenings of the di- 
vine law are not enforced, where is our assu- 
rance that the divine promises will be fulfilled ? 
Justice to the subjects of a law requires the 
same. If in sin offenders go unpunished, we 
view it as a temptation to the obedient to trans- 
gress ; it inclines us to view transgression as a 
light matter, and to call in question the compe- 
tency of the Lawgiver. Justice to the divine 
faithfulness demands the same. For, if God 
does not faithfully perform all he has declared, 
eternal truth itself must lie open to suspicion. 
Indeed, all the divine attributes are engaged 
to see the laws executed, inasmuch as they are 
all attributes of the same all-wise and eternal 
Being. 

III. We may show, further, that the con- 
nection of sin and punishment is most just and 
equal. If we admit that God is just, we must 
admit, also, that all his words and works are 
just. God has made the sanction ; therefore it 
is just. "Is God unrighteous who taketh ven- 



OF SALVATION. 65 

geance ? (I speak as a man) God forbid ; for 
then how shall God judge the world ?" More- 
over this punishment is just, because it was one 
of the terms of a contract ; the substance of 
which was, do and live, sin and die. And all 
ground of complaint is removed by the fact, that 
man has had timely warning of the punishment. 
Suppose the lord of a manor to have made a 
precipice in some part of his land ; and to have 
warned his servant that if he ventured to this 
precipice, it would surely prove his death. 
Now, if the servant should voluntarily go to this 
dangerous spot, and fall, and be dashed in 
pieces, after having been faithfully warned to 
keep away, would the owner of the land be 
guilty of his death? With as little justice can 
God be charged with the death of sinners, since 
they neglect his warnings, and thus destroy 
themselves. 

Consider, too, the influence this threatening 
of punishment must have upon those who are 
saved. It moves ministers to preach. "Know- 
ing the terrors of the Lord we persuade men." 
And it moves men to accept of salvation. Hence 
the frequency with which our Lord mentioned 
it in all his preaching. And, finally, consider 
the necessity of this punishment in order to the 
government of the world. For if men are so 
6* 



66 THE GREAT CONCERN 

bold in sin, notwithstanding the terrible penalty- 
annexed, what might we expect were this 
penalty lessened or removed. 

Section VI. The misery of sinners. — I. If 
a vast loss can make you miserable, then is your 
misery unspeakably great. Those alone can 
estimate it, who are in the enjoyment of the ad- 
vantages you lose, or who are writhing in the 
torment to which you are doomed. 

You now cleave so fast to the world, that 
neither the promises nor the threatenings of the 
Gospel are sufficient to make you quit your 
hold. And yet death will strip you of every 
thing you have most delight in. Your property, 
your friends, your carnal mirth, all will be left 
on this side of the grave. The Gospel, too, you 
will lose, when God punishes you. The Gos- 
pel has in it treasures for the poor, eyes for the 
blind, feet for the lame, xmderstanding for the 
simple, peace for rebels, pardon for condemned 
malefactors, a title to heaven for the heirs of 
hell, life for the dead, and happiness for the 
miserable. What loss can be compared with 
this ? It may appear small to you now, but 
death will open your eyes to see its value. And 
heaven, too, you will lose forever. Who can 
measure the greatness of such a loss ? Who 



OF SALVATION. 67 

can weigh that " far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory ? Who can take the dimen- 
sions of the vast " inheritance of the saints in 
light ?" Who can count the treasures of the 
paradise of God? Who can fathom the rivers 
of pleasure that are at God's right hand for 
evermore ? Who can conceive of that blissful 
sight, where the eye is not obscured by inter- 
vening clouds ? All this you must lose forever. 
You lose God, you lose your own souls; and 
what will it profit you to gain the whole world 
and lose your souls ? In a word, you lose all 
the treasures of this world and of that which is 
to come. 

II. And not only will you suffer the absence 
of pleasure, but you must endure positive, un- 
speakable pain forever, both of soul and body. 
44 Fear not them which kill the body, but are 
not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him 
which is able to destroy both soul and body in 
hell." Who can " dwell with the devouring 
fire ?" Who can " dwell with everlasting burn- 
ings ?" You cannot now bear the pain of a 
speck of dust in your eye ; how can you bear to 
44 drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which 
is poured out without mixture into the cup of 
his indignation?" when you 44 shall be tormented 
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the 



68 THE GREAT CONCERN 

holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb V* 
It is God with his own hand who will inflict the 
punishment. " It is a fearful thing to fall into 
the hand of the living God." For such " shall 
be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory 
of his power." " God is jealous, and the Lord 
revengeth ; the Lord revengeth and is furious ; 
the Lord will take vengeance on his adversa- 
ries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, 
and will not at all acquit the wicked ; the Lord 
hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, 
and the clouds are the dust of his feet. Who 
can stand before his indignation? and who can 
abide in the fierceness of his anger ? his fury 
is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown 
down by him." Such is that being from whose 
hand the sinner is to receive his final destiny. 

And this punishment will come suddenly 
and unexpectedly. The same breath which 
pronounces the sinner's separation from all 
his carnal delights, sends him away into ever- 
lasting burning. " Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire." Sudden, indeed, then, 
will be your destruction. " For when they 
shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruc- 
tion cometh upon them." When the man, who 



OF SALVATION. 69 

had resolved to pull down his barns and build 
greater, was singing a requiem to his soul, then 
on that very night his glory departed and his 
misery came. Christ w r ill come suddenly, " in 
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." The word has already 
gone forth, " So I sware in my wrath, they 
shall not enter into my rest." 

And now, reader, art thou still asleep ? O, 
awake then, without delay. We cannot tell 
but your stupidity may provoke God to leave 
you, and never give you another warning. We 
know not but he may soon say, Let no fruit 
grow on this barren sinner any more. How 
will your spirit fail within you, when you hear 
the dreadful sentence pronounced ? Now, if 
you awake in time and flee to Christ, you may 
avoid this fearful doom. O, then, hasten your 
escape, before the decree bring forth, before 
the day pass as the chaff, before the day of the 
fierce anger of the Lord come upon you. 



PART II. 

MAN 5 S RECOVERY BY FAITH IN CHRIST, OR, THE 
CONVICTED SINNER'S CASE AND CURE 



Acts xvi. 29—31. — "Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and 
came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas : and brought 
them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved 1 And they 
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, 
and thy house." 



CHAPTER I. 

THE JAILER'S QUESTION CONSIDERED. 

In the former part of this treatise, it was re- 
marked, that there are three questions in which 
man is principally concerned, namely : " What 
have I done ?" " What must I do to be saved ?" 
" What shall I render to the Lord ?" The first 
of these questions has already been considered; 
Ave now come to the second, which was the 
question taken by the terrified jailer of Philippi. 

From this question of the jailer we may lay 

down the proposition : That a sinner, really 

convinced of sin and its consequences, will, 

with serious concern, put the question, What 

70 



THE GREAT CONCERN OF SALVATION. 71 

must I do to be saved? This was the first 
effect of conviction with the jailer; and so it 
was with those awakened on the day of pen- 
tecost. 

I. But before discussing this proposition, a 
few things may be premised to prepare the 
way. 

First.* Conviction of sin is that clear view 
which the Holy Spirit gives to sinners of sin 
and its consequences, in their nature and neces- 
sary connection. Unconvinced sinners discover 
sin only in the twilight of reason, education, or 
the external dispensation of the word ; and 
therefore they are not affected by it ; nor do 
they see any peculiar deformity in it. But 
when the Holy Spirit pours sufficient light upon 
the soul, sin appears in its exceeding sinfulness ; 
and misery, its deserved and necessary conse- 
quence, is awfully aggravated by the dread of 
avensfinor wrath. The convicted sinner sees 
that God has linked sin and hell inseparably 
together. The Holy Spirit not only shows him 
the impossibility of separating guilt and its 
punishment, not only tells him, as Nathan in 
the parable did David, that a certain man has 
sinned, but applies the parable, and says, 
"Thou art the man." 

Second. Convictions are various in degree, 



72 THE GREAT CONCERN 

continuance, and results. Upon some they 
come like the faint rays of twilight ; upon 
others, like the full beams of the noonday sun, 
shining in its strength. Some discover a few 
sins ; others, many. Light seems to break in 
upon some like a flash of lightning ; and is 
almost as soon gone. Not, however, that any 
particular degree of conviction is necessary to 
conversion, or that conviction is always followed 
by faith ; for those who seem to have faint con- 
victions are sometimes converted, while persons 
who suffer those that are most frequent, often 
return to a state of indifference. Some wear 
off their convictions, whether they are more or 
less deep, and others do not ; some lose therii 
in despair ; and some in the opiate of a false 
remedy. Nor do we maintain that all must be 
a long time under conviction, before they can 
believe. The jailer believed immediately, and 
so may others. If convictions continue a long 
time, as is often the case before conversion, it is 
not because a long time in the nature of the 
case is necessary, but because the rebellious 
heart refuses, till after a long struggle, to com- 
ply with the terms of the Gospel. 

Convictions are followed by various conse- 
quences. Faint discoveries of sin, whether 
occasioned by awakening providences, or other 



OF SALVATION. 73 

means, usually cause some faint desires for 
safety in Christ. If they proceed farther than 
this, it is only to produce a few good reso- 
lutions, which are soon forgotten. Brilliant 
flashes of light often dart into the minds of 
men, and suddenly disappear without effect. 
It is with them as with a man suddenly 
awakened from sleep hy a peal of thunder ; he 
starts up before he is fully awake ; the light, 
unexpectedly enabling him only for an instant 
to see the things about him, fills his mind 
with great confusion ; but soon the light is 
gone, and the sound has ceased ; his agitation 
subsides, and the softness of his bed invites 
him to fresh repose. And so men hear the 
thunderings of the law in the preaching of the 
word ; this often occasions a transient terror, 
or a half-felt cry for mercy; but before you 
are aware of it, they are again asleep. It has 
happened unto them according to the true 
proverb : " The dog is turned to his own vomit 
again, and the sow that was washed to her wal- 
lowing in the mire." Thus ends the religion 
of many who are at times a little concerned 
for their souls. No degree of conviction can 
change the heart. We naturally seek relief 
from pain ; and if convictions are not too deep 
7 



74 THE GREAT CONCERN 

and clear, we are not wanting in means to 
banish them from the mind. 

II, Let us now inquire what that salvation 
is, about which the awakened sinner is so 
anxious. Salvation, as every one knows, is 
deliverance from danger or evil. But as used 
in the Scriptures, it means more than this ; it 
signifies deliverance from sin and hell, and the 
final enjoyment of God in a future state, 
through the mediation of Christ. In other 
words, salvation includes freedom from sin, 
and a title to life. Hence the redeemed of 
the Lord are called " heirs of salvation." The 
question of the jailer, then, includes two others. 

First. It includes the question, " What shall 
I do to obtain freedom from sin ?" The sinner 
sees that sin threatens his destruction, and 
must be pardoned, or there can be no salva- 
tion. Pardon and salvation are plainly linked 
together in the Scriptures. " Wherewith shall 
I come before the Lord, and bow myself before 
the high God ? Shall I come before him with 
burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old ? 
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of 
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? 
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, 
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 



OF SALVATION. 75 

This is the genuine language of conviction of 
sin. The sinner is willing to have pardon on 
any terms. 

Second. The other question alluded to is, 
"What shall I do that I may inherit eternal 
life ? Pardon of sin, or freedom from wrath, 
first occurs to the awakened sinner, as the 
object of desire ; but he wishes more than 
this. A rebel might be pardoned, and never 
made a favourite. Salvation would be incom- 
plete without eternal life. God not only par- 
dons sinners, but gives them gracious accept- 
ance with him, and adoption into his family. 
"Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; 
say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and 
receive us graciously." Awakened sinners 
always seek for some righteousness, with which 
they may appear before God, sensible that 
mere pardon of sin cannot alone do it. This 
was the case with the Jews ; for, " being igno- 
rant of God's righteousness," they went about 
" to establish their own righteousness ;" they 
felt their need, but were mistaken as to the 
means of supplying it. A man convicted of 
sin, in a word, is one who is persuaded of a 
future state, and that the things of this world 
cannot insure happiness ; therefore the ques- 
tion, " What must I do to be saved ?" is equiva- 



76 THE GREAT CONCERN 

lent to asking, What must I do to be happy ? 
Now his distress arises from an apprehension 
of the inconsistency between happiness and 
unpardoned sin. But mere pardon gives no 
man a title to happiness. Innocence in Adam 
did not give him a title to heaven. Eternal 
life was to be the reward of a course of obe- 
dience. Besides, mere pardon of sin does not 
make a man meet for " the inheritance of the 
saints in light ;" or communion and intercourse 
with God. Truly there can be no commu- 
nion between the holy nature of God and the 
sinful nature of man, and pardon does not 
change the nature of the person pardoned. 
Three things, then, are included in the in- 
quiry after salvation; How shall I obtain 
the pardon of sin? How shall I secure a 
title to heaven? and, How shall I be made 
meet for " the inheritance of the saints in 
light?" The inquiring soul must have these 
inquiries answered, or there cannot be security 
or happiness. 

III. But what is the nature of that concern, 
which results from conviction of sin ? 

First. To be concerned about salvation im- 
plies dissatisfaction with all other enjoyments, 
so long as the soul is in the dark about 
this. The accomplishment of earthly wishes 



OF SALVATION. 77 

can never calm the fears of an awakened con- 
science. In the words of Haman, we may- 
say of riches, honours, and pleasures, "yet 
all this availeth me nothing," so long as I 
am in uncertainty about salvation. What are 
the riches, and honours, and pleasures of this 
world to a dying man? So it was with the 
jailer. A moment before he w r as so anxious 
about the prisoners, as to be on the point of 
committing suicide, for fear of. their escape ; 
but suddenly this concern all left him ; though 
the prison doors were open, he appears to have 
made no provision for securing them ; nor does 
he seem to have received any satisfaction from 
hearing that they were safe. 

Second. This concern implies also an earnest 
desire after salvation. When the thoughts are 
arrested by sin and misery, the mind refuses 
application to any thing but the means of 
escape. Whatever importance other things 
claim, this demands immediate attention. Like 
one in a besieged city, into whose walls the 
enemy has already made a breach, the man 
regards his present exigence ; for if the enemy 
once enter, and sack, and destroy the city, 
all endeavours to save it will then come too 
late. It would be madness to attend to other 
matters ; the breach must first be stopped, or 
7* 



78 THE GREAT CONCERN 

the enemy pacified, or the city is soon lost. 
So the awakened sinner knows, that if the 
wrath of God overtake him, ruin is inevita- 
ble. This posture of the mind keeps appre- 
hension awake, and as the alarm increases, 
so does the desire for deliverance without 
delay. The possibility of escape excites hope 
of finding the way of safety. And as ap- 
prehensions of coming wrath fill the soul 
with terror, and a sense of sin with grief and 
shame, the bare possibility of deliverance is 
enough to awaken the most intense anxiety to 
obtain it. 

Third. This inward frame of mind, just de- 
scribed, will manifest itself. It will show itself 
in words. Words are indications of thought ; 
and when the mind is deeply concerned, es- 
pecially for any thing so important as salva- 
tion, the thoughts naturally seek vent in words. 
"Out of the abundance of the heart the 
mouth speaketh." So it was with the jailer; 
that which lay nearest his heart was the first 
to be expressed in words. But especially will 
there be the use of means to escape what 
is feared and secure what \s desired. Per- 
haps the inward feeling will manifest itself 
more by this than by words. The jailer im- 
mediately went to the Apostles, and sought 



OF SALVATION. 79 

direction from them. Probably he had learned 
what the possessed damsel cried out, that 
they were "the servants of the Most High 
God." who made it their business to show 
men the way of salvation ; and this made 
him hasten to them as the most suitable per- 
sons to show him what to do to be saved. 
And when, as in this case, the anxiety be- 
comes intense, it will produce intense appli- 
cation to the use of means. True, men may 
cry for mercy with their lips, while the heart 
continues unaffected as before; but if the 
heart be really moved, and the man really 
feel his danger, he will bestir himself to find 
a way of escape. The half-awakened man 
may say, " There is a lion in the way, and 
I shall be slain in the streets ;" he may have 
a thousand trifling difficulties to prevent his 
acting ; but one who lays salvation seriously 
to heart will use means and surmount ob- 
stacles to obtain relief. The jailer did not 
hesitate, though he had much reason to fear 
as to the success of his attempt. What ! he 
might have said within himself, will these 
men, whom a few hours ago I bound in 
chains, and rudely thrust into the inner prison, 
be so kind and forgiving as to help me, when 
they have a fair opportunity to take ven- 



80 THE GREAT CONCERN 

geance on me, and make their escape from 
confinement besides ! But wrath pursued him 
so closely that he durst not delay; he hazards 
an experiment, whatever might be the result. 
Sinners truly awakened will exclaim, like the 
lepers, "Why sit we here until we die?" To 
sit still would be inevitable death ; and an un- 
successful attempt to find safety could be no 
more than death. 

Fourth. Again, t,his concern will put the 
soul in an active and waiting posture, ready 
to comply with any injunction without delay. 
There is no hesitating to dispute about the 
terms of salvation, but any possible terms are 
readily accepted. The jailer applied to Paul 
and Silas, not to make terms, but to accept 
them, as soon as stated. As if he had said, I 
have no scruples as to any thing you enjoin 
upon me ; speak what you will in the name of 
the Lord, and I readily comply. 

IV. The next inquiry is, Why does an 
awakened sinner thus lay salvation seriously to 
heart ? So strong a desire of self-preservation 
is implanted in the mind of man, that he can 
as easily cease to be as cease to desire it. 
" For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but 
nourisheth and cherisheth it." And the neces- 
sary consequence of this desire, is to fill us 



OF SALVATION. 81 

with dread of that which appears hurtful to 
nature. That which threatens our ruin we 
view with abhorrence. Hence death is called 
the king of terrors, because it threatens nature, 
not with alterations more or less important, as 
the case may be, but with entire dissolution. 
Any thing is more or less terrible, according as 
it has more or less of death in it. And by the 
light which is let into the soul of the awakened 
sinner, he sees the death of deaths, eternal 
wrath, ready to ruin him forever. It is this 
sight of impending ruin which fills the awaken- 
ed sinner with anguish ; and, while the whole 
man, soul and body, is seen to be in the great- 
est of all possible danger, all the powers will 
not fail to be exercised for deliverance. 



82 THE GREAT CONCERN 

CHAPTER II. 

PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. 

Section I. The reader put upon trial to 
ascertain whether he is convinced of sin or not.— 
I. Unless you know whether you have been 
convinced of sin or not, you cannot know 
whether or not you have been profited by the 
foregoing considerations. You are made either 
better or worse by the perusal ; for, " As the 
rain ct)meth down, and the snow from heaven, 
and returneth not thither, but watereth the 
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that 
it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the 
eater, so shall my word be that goeth out of my 
mouth ; it shall not return unto me void, but it 
shall accomplish that which I please, and it 
shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." 
It is a matter of vast importance, then, that you 
know your own case. Nor is it enough to have 
those general notions of sin which persons 
entertain from custom or education ; there must 
be a work of the heart, a personal work, or it 
is insufficient. 

We may set aside all profane persons, pro- 
fane swearers, drunkards, liars, whoremongers, 



OF SALVATION. bJ 

and thieves, and the like, as not concerned in 
this trial ; for such persons are doubtless with- 
out genuine convictions of sin. So far from 
being concerned to obtain salvation, they do all 
in their power to make damnation sure. As 
their "judgment now of a long time lingereth 
not, and their damnation slumbereth not," so 
their condemnation will be just, for they run 
with open eyes into manifest ruin. While they 
know "that they which commit such things 
are worthy of death," they themselves "not 
only do the same things, but have pleasure in 
them that do them." 

But besides these notorious sinners, there are 
others who are no less strangers to sound con- 
viction, but the proof in their case is more 
difficult. Some of these profess to be convicted 
of sin. Have you, then, reader, felt more anx- 
iety about salvation than any thing else ? Can 
you be satisfied with other things while in utter 
uncertainty about your soul ? You say you are 
convinced of sin ; but could we know all your 
thoughts, what would these testify that you are 
most concerned about? What thoughts do 
you choose ? those about the body or the soul? 
Are you more concerned to make a figure in the 
world, or to prepare for heaven ? Do you not 
spend days and weeks together, without con- 



84 THE GREAT CONCERN 

cern for the soul ? If you ordinarily choose to 
think of other things, it shows that other things 
are your principal concern. You cannot but 
have the thoughts most occupied with that 
which lies nearest the heart. 

Again, I ask, what are your desires ? Man 
is sensible that he is needy, and is ever longing 
either for fancied or real good. Now, what is 
your desire? Is it salvation? Is it Christ? 
Perhaps you never have such desires, except 
in sickness and the fear of death; and even 
then it is principally a desire to be free from 
death, and to live a little longer. Is your 
heart ever affected in view of salvation ? Have 
you any fears of falling short of it ? Concern 
never fails to set the heart at work. Do you 
ever taste God's anger in the threatenings of 
the law ? Do you ever feel any shame for sin 
in your heart ? If you have nothing of all this, 
you can have no true conviction of sin. 

Upon what topics are you most ready to con- 
verse ? Do you ever speak on the subject of 
salvation, unless it be to object, or cavil at the 
terms or doctrines of it ? Talk not of accom- 
modating yourself to the company you are in ; 
for if this were necessary, you can easily find 
the company of those who would willingly talk 
of heaven. Are you never in company where 



OF SALVATION. 85 

you may lead the conversation? Do you or 
not ever grow weary of the company that con- 
verses upon heavenly and divine things ? If 
you were really concerned, it would be a 
restraint upon you to be kept from talking 
upon these things. 

But do you use the means of salvation ? A 
drowning man will surely struggle to save him- 
self; and so will a convinced sinner. Is there 
not, then, a lie in the mouth of him who says 
he is anxious for his soul, and yet makes no 
effort to secure its salvation ? 

II. But let us descend to a few particulars. 
The means of salvation are of three sorts, se- 
cret, private, and public. Attend to a few 
questions in reference to each. 

First. Secret. — I shall name only secret 
reading of the Scriptures and prayer. Do you 
neglect prayer in secret ? Can you rise in the 
morning, and go to your work without bowing 
the knee to God ? If so, you cannot have anx- 
iety for your soul. Are you anxious to ascer- 
tain the success of your prayers, if indeed you 
do pray ? Saints mentioned in the Bible were 
anxious to know the success and acceptance of 
their prayers. Are your secret prayers con- 
fined to stated times, as morning and evening, 
or do you often breathe out your desires to God 
8 



86 THE GREAT CONCERN 

in ejaculations ? These are the genuine effect 
of concern for the soul. Not, however, the 
forms frequently employed, such as " God save 
us," The Lord deliver us," &c; these neither 
manifest much concern for the soul, nor due 
reverence to God. As these expressions are 
often used, they are rather violations of the 
third command than expressions of reverence 
to God. By ejaculations are meant affection- 
ate and reverent desires sent up to God for his 
grace; and very few who love the Lord can 
be strangers to them. Do you neglect to read 
the word of God, or have it read to you, if you 
cannot read yourself? You cannot be very 
desirous to know the way of life, if you do not 
read the only book which can teach you that 
way. Do you give heed i to the word of God 
when you read it ? Are you affected by it ? Is 
it your endeavour to do what is commanded in 
the Scriptures ? If not, then you are deceiv- 
ing yourself, your pretensions are vain. 

Second. Private duties, or means of salva- 
tion. This concern about salvation will make 
those who have families faithful in family reli- 
gion, and careful to have all the household pre- 
sent at family worship and instruction. It will 
make them anxious, also, to know the success 
of these duties. But if you are indifferent in 



OF SALVATION. 87 

these matters, you are, to say the least, in a 
dangerous condition. Take warning, there- 
fore, from the words of the prophet: "Pour 
out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee 
not, and upon the families that call not upon 
thy name." 

Third. Public means of grace. — Anxiety 
for the soul will manifest itself in these. A 
man in great danger will seize upon any thing 
which gives him the hope of safety. He will 
rejoice if he find that his case is not hopeless. 
Now, is this the case with you ? Do you with 
satisfaction embrace opportunities for enjoying 
ordinances ? If not, you are deceiving your- 
self. I ask once more, will trifling difficulties 
make you lay aside the thoughts and the 
means of salvation? One who knows his sin 
and misery is not easily disheartened ; for he 
sees nothing so terrible as the displeasure of 
God, and hears of no enjoyment so much to be 
desired as that of salvation. 

Section II. Address to the Unconvinced. — 
If you are not yet convinced of sin, it must 
be because you have not heeded what has 
been said, or because you have not believed 
it, or because you have fled to some false 
refuge. 



88 THE GREAT CONCERN 

First. I speak first to those who have not 
paid attention to what has been said. If you 
give no heed to the truth, if you will not even 
listen to it, it is no wonder that you are not 
affected by it. But do you thus requite the 
Lord ? Has he condescended to send his ser- 
vants to tell you the way of life, and will you 
not give them a hearing ? How would an 
earthly ruler bear such treatment ? You have 
reason to wonder that you have not before this 
been cast into helk God has commanded you 
to " take heed what ye hear," and " how ye 
hear ;" and he will not suffer his commands 
to be slighted with impunity. It may be with 
you as with the people in the time of Ezekiel ; 
they heard the word from the prophet, but 
would not regard it. They came indeed to him 
under the pretence of inquiring for the word of 
the Lord, but came with wicked and rebellious 
hearts, and therefore regarded it not. God 
threatens to answer them, not by the prophet, 
but by himself. " For every one of the house 
of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in 
Israel, which separateth himself from me, and 
setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the 
stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, 
and cometh to a prophet to inquire concerning 
me ; I the Lord will answer him by myself; 



OF SALVATION. 89 

and I will set my face against that man, and 
will make him a sign and a proverb, and 
I will cut him off from the midst of my 
people ;" as if he had said, I will answer 
them no more in words ; I will answer them 
by deeds, and those not of mercy, but of judg- 
ment. 

Second. To those who, through unbelief of 
what has been said, are not convinced. Un- 
belief is represented in the Bible as an awful 
sin ; indeed it is the sin of sins, including every 
thing hateful to God and destructive to the souls 
of men. Now, in your unbelief you have not 
refused the testimony of man, but the testimony 
of God, who cannot lie ; and he who believes 
not the testimony of God makes him a liar. 
Your sin and misery have been set before you 
in the light of God's word, and therefore you 
close your eyes against the clear light of the 
divine declarations. Beware of shutting your 
eyes against the light ; beware of trifling with 
God's truth; beware of disliking to retain God 
in your knowledge, lest you be given up " to 
do those things which are not convenient ;" 
beware of not receiving the love of the truth, 
lest God send you strong delusion, and you be 
left to believe a lie ; and be damned for not 
believing the truth, but having pleasure in 
8* 



90 THE GREAT CONCERN 

unrighteousness. 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12. Be- 
ware lest you be given up to Satan, the god 
of this world, to be led captive at his will. 
In the former part of this treatise, testimony- 
was brought from heaven, earth, and hell, to 
prove that man has " sinned, and come short of 
the glory of God." I know of but one witness 
more, and that is sense ; and beware that 
sense, even woful experience, of misery, do not 
convince you of the truth, when too late to save 
you. If you never believe in this life, in the 
next you will be stripped of every delusion, 
and be left no more room for doubt. 

Third. There is another sort of persons, 
who flee to some false refuge, to evade the 
force of truth. We have laid your case before 
you, as it is described in the word of God. 
We have shown, by incontestible proof, that 
" all have sinned and come short of the glory 
of God." We have shown that all are equally 
concerned in this sad truth. Whence, then, 
this security ? Why so little fear of the woes 
of the second death? But men have a sin- 
gular ingenuity in evading the force of divine 
truth, when pressed upon the conscience ; I 
shall therefore lay open some of the defences 
behind which men take shelter to avoid convic- 
tion of sin. 



OF SALVATION. 91 

There are some hearers of the Gospel who 
acknowledge the truth that they are sinners. 
Even if we say, as Nathan did to David, Thou 
art the man, or thou art the woman who hast 
sinned, and art in danger of eternal wrath ; the 
sinner answers, All this is very true ; I have 
sinned, and, God be merciful to us, we have all 
sinned ; I hope God will be merciful to me. 
Thus slightly is the wound healed. This is 
the false refuge to which you flee. You say 
that God is merciful. Very true, he is so 
But although he is merciful, he has told us that 
" strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, 
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that 
find it." But you say you hope to be among 
the few who will find mercy ; I fear you will 
not. Now, which stand on the better ground, 
your hopes or my fears ? I can give good 
reason for my fears, but I doubt whether you 
can of your hopes. The few who are saved 
are penitent sinners, who have accepted of 
Christ on the terms of the Gospel. Now, 
what is the ground of your hopes ? You say 
you cannot think that God will be so severe as 
to damn you ; but why is it severe in your case 
more than in that of others, who, like you, are 
not penitent believers ? In a word, is it cruelty 
to damn you who have innumerable sins, 



92 THE GREAT CONCERN 

when God thought it not cruel to send so many 
angels to hell for one sin? Is it unjust to 
punish you who have neglected the means of 
grace, when others have been punished who 
never had them ? We have no reason to doubt 
that there are multitudes in hell, who have 
been ruined by such presumptuous hopes of 
mercy. 

Others, when driven from this defence, will 
say, that they are in no danger, for they believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true, that those 
who really Lbelieve are in no danger. But are 
you sure that you believe ? The foolish vir- 
gins in the parable thought themselves be- 
lievers, and perhaps went farther than you 
pretend to go. They had professions, and they 
had lamps. But no sooner did they attempt to 
trim their lamps on the approach of the bride- 
groom, than they were convinced of their want 
of oil, and went to obtain a supply ; but were 
forever shut out from the presence of the Lord. 
Now, how can you pretend to believe, when 
you fall behind many who have perished? 
There are some who tell us they believe, and 
yet they are drunkards, profane swearers, scof- 
fers at religion, haters of better persons than 
themselves, ridiculing them, and pronouncing 
them hypocrites. Belief, or faith, " works by 



OF SALVATION. 93 

love ;" it is a grace that purifies the heart, and 
reforms the life. " Show me thy faith with- 
out thy works, and I will show thee my faith 
by my works," says the Apostle. Still you 
say you believe. But when did you believe ? 
You will reply, always. You think, then, you 
were born a believer ; and thus you are proof 
against yourself that to this day you have never 
believed at all. 

Others shelter themselves under the fig-leaf 
of their own blameless life. They say they 
hope all is well ; they never did anybody any 
harm ; and therefore they never feared the 
wrath of God. You never injured any one ! 
But you have injured your Maker, and there- 
fore you must perish. But you still say you 
never injured any man. You know not what 
you say. You owe a debt of love to every one 
with whom you have any intercourse or con- 
nection, to say nothing of the love you owe to 
the whole human family. " Love one another, 
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the 
law." Now, he who has never shown his love 
to others in a serious concern for their salva- 
tion, withholds from them what is their un- 
questionable due ; and surely he who was 
never concerned for his own soul, was never 
really concerned for that of others. Say no 



94 THE GREAT CONCERN 

more, then, that you never injured any one. 
Didst thou never see thy brother sin without 
reproving- him ? Many persons, like thee, will 
see their own children and servants commit 
iniquity, and not reprove them. And is not 
this a real injury to the persons you ought 
to have reproved? "Thou shalt not hate 
thy brother in thy heart ; thou shalt in any 
wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer 
sin upon him." With what confidence can 
you say you have injured no man, when 
by your impenitent life you have been draw- 
ing down the wrath of heaven upon your- 
self, and by your example, if not by your 
words, have been encouraging others to neglect 
their souls ? 

Others, when reminded of their sins, take 
refuge behind their church-privileges, as if 
these could shelter them from the wrath of 
God. Thus it was with many in the days of the 
prophet Jeremiah. They were guilty of theft, 
murder, adultery, perjury, and of burning in- 
cense to Baal. And when the prophet was 
sent to rebuke them, they cried out, " The 
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the 
temple of the Lord are these." Is it not so 
with you ? It is not ordinances alone, but im- 
proving them, that will save you. To lean 



OF SALVATION. 95 

upon them, instead of the Saviour, is the worst 
misimprovement of them. 

Others betake themselves to their works. 
Like the Pharisee who thanked God that he 
was not as other men, they stop the mouth of 
conscience with an enumeration of the per- 
formances in which they imagine they excel 
others. True, they admit that, in common with 
others, they have sinned; but, they say, they 
fast and pray, and to do good and to commu- 
nicate, they forget not ; and so they think they 
are safe. Thus, they prefer their own misera- 
ble hiding-place to God's impregnable city of 
refuge ; the home-spun rags of their own, to 
the heaven-wrought, imperishable robe of a 
Saviour's righteousness ! To lean upon duties 
in this manner, is to say to the work of your 
hands, Ye are our gods. 

Another class of persons will take shelter 
under their good resolutions, and thus stifle 
conviction of sin. Like Felix, they resolve to 
attend to their souls at some convenient season; 
and for this convenient season, which, alas ! 
never arrives, they will put off all their con- 
cern for salvation. But can there be any bu- 
siness so important as to deserve to take the 
place of that of the soul ? Is there any hazard 
like that of perdition ? and any mercy like that 



VO THE GREAT CONCERN 

of salvation from deserved wrath ? Who is the 
better judge of the most convenient season, 
God or you ? God has determined the present 
to be the fittest time. " Now is the accepted 
time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 
Very many who have resolved upon a more 
convenient season, have never seen that season 
arrive ; and what is your assurance that it 
will be otherwise with you? You may be 
in hell, soul and body, before that season 
arrives. 

There is another sort of persons who plead 
their ignorance in justification of their conduct. 
Though unconcerned, they fancy themselves 
safe, because they are ignorant. God, say 
they, may deal severely with others who are 
better informed ; but I hope for mercy, because 
I know no better. O, the carnal and deceitful 
heart ! Will God have mercy upon you be- 
cause you are willing to be ignorant? Cer- 
tainly not. " For it is a people of no under- 
standing ; therefore he that made them will not 
have mercy on them, and he that formed them 
will show no favour." Whose fault is your 
ignorance ? Has not the light of the glorious 
Gospel shone clearly around you ? Have not 
others acquired knowledge with the same means 
which you have neglected ? This is an unfor- 



OF SALVATION. 97 

tunate excuse ; for ignorant people shall not 
be saved. " In flaming fire, taking vengeance 
on them that know not God, and obey not the 
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." This is the 
condemnation of sinners, "that light is come 
into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
than light, because their deeds were evil." Is 
not this the true reason of your ignorance? 
You cannot plead your want of time ; for the 
earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the 
hearts, as well as the property of men, are in his 
hands ; and he has told you that if you are 
first faithful to him, he will take care of you. 
11 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his 
righteousness, and all these things shall be 
added unto you." Besides, others, with as 
little time as you have, can take good care of 
their souls, and acquire knowledge. You 
probably waste as much time on trifles, or in 
doing nothing, as would be necessary, if well 
improved, to furnish you with all the knowledge 
you need. Thus you labour under a twofold 
evil ; your voluntary ignorance renders you 
incapable of fully understanding what we say 
to you of your sin and danger ; and you make 
that ignorance atone for your other faults. Your 
ignorance, therefore, is your sin, and not your 
excuse. 

9 



yo THE GREAT CONCERN 

There is still another class of persons, who 
seek shelter from conviction, by comparing 
themselves with others. When appeals are 
made to their consciences, they will say, they 
are sure it will be no worse with them than 
with others ; if they are lost, many others will 
be also ; and surely the Lord will not send us 
all to perdition. But what if others do perish 
as well as you ? Will the wailings and gnash- 
ing of teeth of lost souls be any comfort to you 
in hell? Will these not rather enhance your 
misery ? Alas ! you know not what you say. 
It is as much as to say, I will hazard the result, 
be it what it may. Are you willing to hazard 
eternal wrath? Can you dwell with "ever- 
lasting burnings?" Can you take comfort in 
" devouring fire ?" I put the question, is there 
any thing whatever, that is worth seeking, and 
which you wish to make sure ? If so, then 
I put it to your heart and conscience, whether 
any thing can be of equal importance with 
salvation? If you think there is, then I ask 
you, farther, can you carry it with you when 
you leave the world? Will any thing make 
up the loss, if you lose your soul? Finally, 
I ask, have you ever considered what it is to 
be a lost sinner in hell ? I shall only refer you 
to Matt. xxv. 41. " Depart from me, ye cursed, 



OF SALVATION. \)\f 

into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels." 

Section III. Address to those who are 
awakened. — If the Lord has opened your eyes 
to see your sins, then bless his holy name 
for it. You were naturally as much inclined 
to sleep on as others ; therefore bless the 
distinguishing mercy of God. Study to keep 
your eyes open ; or rather give your heart 
without delay to the Saviour, and then your 
eyes will be opened indeed. If you shut them 
now, and lose your convictions, your slumbers 
may not be broken again, till broken by the 
loud wailings of everlasting despair. Endea- 
vour to improve the discoveries you have 
made of sin; and seek to have your eyes 
farther opened. The more you see of sin, the 
more welcome will be the offers of mercy. 

Would you indeed be saved? Then take 
the advice given to the jailer. "Believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved." To this answer of the Apostle to the 
jailer, your serious attention is invited in the 
following chapter. 



100 THE GREAT CONCERN 



CHAPTER III. 

THE APOSTLE'S ANSWER TO THE JAILER CON- 
SIDERED. 

Section I. The answer of the Apostle ex- 
plained. — The Gospel proposes its remedy, 
not to those who are well in their own eyes, 
but to those who see and feel their disease. 
Christ is offered to those who are sensible of 
their need of him. Hence, ministers of the 
Gospel begin their work with conviction of 
sin ; for this alone prepares the way to re- 
ceive Christ. When John the Baptist was sent 
to prepare for the coming of Christ, he began 
here: "Repent," said he, "for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand." So it was with Peter's 
sermon on the day of Pentecost. Our Lord 
employed the same method in the conver- 
sion of Paul. The same have I attempted 
to do in dealing with you. I have laid sin 
before you ; and now we enter upon the plan 
of relief, which is suited only to convinced 
sinners. 

When the awakened man asked Paul and 
Silas what he must do, they answered him di- 
rectly and plainly. They did not hold him in 



OF SALVATION. 101 

suspense till they could capitulate with him for 
their own escape from prison. They, there- 
fore, gave him the simplest direction possible : 
" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Have 
faith in him ; receive him, and rest upon him, 
and thou shalt be saved. 

They gave him the highest possible en- 
couragement to comply with their direction : 
"Thou shalt be saved, and thy house." The 
thing offered is the very thing he is seeking. 
Believe, and thou shalt be saved. He might 
be saved, but he must believe. Belief and 
salvation are inseparable. He was not told, 
that if he would abide in faith to the end, 
he should be saved, for this would have left 
him still trembling, lest he might after all be 
finally lost. He was told, that real belief 
rendered his salvation sure. He was farther 
encouraged by the promise that his family 
should be saved with him. Not that his faith 
would save them ; they must believe for them- 
selves, or they could not be saved. But this 
promise implied that his family would obtain 
some special advantages in order to their 
salvation. The promise was a covenant that 
they should be saved. The covenanted mer- 
cies are indeed many to the children of pious 
parents ; and were it not for the criminal 
9* 



102 THE GREAT CONCERN 

neglect of parents to instruct their children 
in the fear of God, we should soon see a 
brighter day dawn upon the Church and the 
world. 

Section II. The convictions and feelings of 
the sinner immediately before believing. — It is 
not to be supposed that the feelings and con- 
victions of awakened sinners are the same in 
every case. On the contrary, there is a great 
diversity. The Spirit of the Lord is not strait- 
ened. There are diversities of gifts, and di- 
versities of operations. But as the Holy Spirit 
is the same in all cases, and as sin is sin, when- 
ever and by whomsoever committed, there 
must be something common to all cases of 
genuine conviction. A general description, 
which is applicable to every variety of cases, 
may now be given. A description of the jailer's 
case is in point. 

First. This convinced sinner is an ungodly 
man. It is only the ungodly that are to be 
saved by fleeing to and believing in Christ. 
" To him that worketh not, but believeth on 
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is 
counted for righteousness." None but the un- 
godly can have need of a Saviour ; and those 
who do not see themselves to be such, will 



OF SALVATION. 103 

never be persuaded to look to him for salva- 
tion. 

Second. The convinced jailer saw himself 
obnoxious to the righteous judgment of God 
against sinners. He saw that death — the curse 
and penalty of the law — was justly pronounced 
against him. When the law proclaims, " The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die ;" the sinner hears 
in that sentence his own doom, because he 
sees in it his own name. It is the doom of sin ; 
and of sin he knows he is guilty. He is self- 
condemned. 

Third. He utters not one murmur; his 
mouth is stopped. He knows that the law is 
holy, and the commandment holy, just, and 
good. He knows " that what things soever the 
law saith, it saith to them who are under the 
law ; that every mouth may be stopped, and 
all the world may become guilty before 
God." He has sinned, and it cannot be con- 
cealed ; he is guilty, and there is no excuse. 
He is "shut up under sin." He is a criminal, 
who has such a view of his crimes, that he 
dares not attempt either to conceal or extenuate 
them; but subscribes to the truth of every 
thing charged upon him by the divine law and 
by his own conscience. He is an enemy to 
God, brought into such a strait that he can 



104 THE GREAT CONCERN 

neither fight nor flee. If he looks to himself, 
he sees an enemy in hopeless rebellion against 
heaven. If he looks to his own righteousness, 
it is as filthy rags. His former defences are 
now as a deceitful bow ; and all the things 
upon which he once leaned are now as a 
broken reed. In shoxt, in himself, he is poor, 
miserable, blind, helpless, and undone. 

Section III. Character and work of Christ. 

A full account of the character and offices of 

Christ cannot here be given. It will be suf- 
ficient to glance at a few things which suit our 
present purpose. 

I. The Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we are 
commanded to believe, is "Immanuel," that 
is, "God with us." "In the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God." And in the fulness of 
time, this Word " was made flesh and dwelt 
among us ;" even among men upon earth, who 
" beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-be- 
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 
Now this discovery of Christ is extremely en- 
couraging to a convinced sinner. It affords 
him no relief to tell him to believe in God ; for 
he sees the holiness, justice, truth, and wisdom 
of God, all arrayed against him. Holiness 



OF SALVATION. 105 

cannot countenance sin. The truth of God 
has become surety for the sinner's destruction ; 
and justice declares this reasonable. Hence 
the sinner's terror. He dare not flee to God. 
Like Adam, he would rather attempt to hide 
himself from the divine presence. Tell the 
sinner to believe in such a Being, and he would 
probably reply, Can I believe in him, whose 
attributes all conspire, and justly, too, to seal 
my destruction ? He has already told me what 
I am to expect at his hand. " In the day that 
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." 
" God is a consuming fire," and I am as stubble 
before him. On the other hand, tell such a 
sinner to go to a man, a mere man, for help, 
and he instantly feels that the help of man is 
vain. " What," he would say, " are not all 
men involved in the same calamity with me ? 
Shall I flee to a man like myself, to sustain for 
me the weight of deserved wrath, and to shield 
me from the dreadful blow of divine justice ?" 
It is preposterous. Thus neither God nor man 
alone is suited to give the desired relief to a 
guilty, awakened sinner. But the union of 
God and man in Christ Jesus our Lord is 
exactly suited to give the sinner the desired 
relief. An awakened sinner will see three 
things in the person of Jesus Christ. 



106 THE GREAT CONCERN 

First. He will see Christ to be one who 
may be approached by him. He will feel that 
he cannot see God and live. Nay, such is 
the weakness of man since the fall, that even 
the sight of a created angel has made some of 
the most eminently holy men exceedingly fear 
and tremble. But there is not this dread of 
approaching one who, like ourselves, is clothed 
in flesh. 

Second. The person of Christ, thus con- 
sisting of the divine and human nature united, 
appears eminently fitted for undertaking the 
work of reconciliation between offended God 
and offending man. He is equally interested 
in both parties. Being God, he fully knows 
what God demands of sinners ; and being man, 
he knows what is man's condition and wants. 
In Christ, therefore, the sinner finds a " days- 
man," to whom he may go with confidence. 

Third. He sees also, in Christ Jesus, one 
who is touched with the feeling of his infirmi- 
mities ; and one who has wisdom and power to 
improve to our advantage his sense of our 
misery. " Great is the mystery of godliness ; 
God was manifest in the flesh ;" this the con- 
vinced sinner views with admiration. The 
divine seems brought down to the human 
nature, and the human elevated to the divine, 



OF SALVATION. 107 

affording at once the assurance of power to 
deliver and of willingness to save, while 
justice and mercy, both fully satisfied and 
united in delightful harmony, concur in the 
sinner's salvation. 

II. The Lord Jesus Christ is clothed with a 
threefold office, for the benefit of believers. 

First. Christ is a Prophet. He was pre- 
dicted as such by Moses; "The Lord thy 
God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from 
the midst of thee, of thy brethren." "I will 
raise them up a Prophet from among their 
brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words 
in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them 
all that I shall command him. And it shall 
come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken 
unto my words which he shall speak in my 
name, I will require it of him." That this 
Prophet is indeed the Lord Jesus Christ, is 
proved by the words of Peter ; Acts iii. 22 ; 
where this prophecy of Moses is repeated and 
applied to Christ. The passage contains a full 
account of Christ's prophetical office. There 
is his call to that office ; " I will raise them up 
a Prophet :" that is, I will call one, and set him 
apart for the work. The passage also describes 
his fitness for the work : " I will put my words 
in his mouth." It shows what his work is ; 



108 THE GREAT CONCERN 

" He shall speak unto them all that I shall 
command him." We see, also, to whom this 
prophet is sent ; they are sinners, who are sen- 
sible that they cannot approach God without a 
mediator, and live. This circumstance made 
them cry out : " Let me not hear again the 
roice of the Lord my God, neither let me see 
this great fire any more, that I die not." We 
may farther see that the design of Christ's pro- 
phetical office was, to satisfy the desires and 
necessities of convinced sinners. This will be 
evident, if we examine Deut. xviii. 15, 16. 
The Lord promises Christ to be a Prophet ; and 
then adds, that it was according to their desire 
in Horeb. We may notice, finally, the qualifi- 
cations of this Prophet, who was promised to 
Israel. He was to be one of themselves ; and 
one who would faithfully declare to them all 
that the Lord commanded him. 

Second. The Lord Jesus Christ is " a Priest 
forever after the order of Melchizedec," God 
having made him such by an oath. Not to 
discourse at large upon this office, we may 
notice two things, which are peculiarly suited 
to the sinner's wants ; namely, oblation and 
intercession. The first is the foundation of the 
second. 

The being to whom he offers sacrifice, or 



OF SALVATION. 109 

oblation, and with whom he intercedes, is God 
only, the just God, who has declared that he 
" will by no means clear the guilty." Before 
sin entered the world, there was no place for 
sacrifice. Under the first covenant there was 
no sacrifice required ; Adam had whatever was 
needful for his happiness without it. But sin 
cut him off from expecting* the blessings of the 
first covenant, and threatened him with de- 
struction from the presence of the Lord, unless 
there could be some one to interpose as priest 
in his behalf. 

The persons for whom he offers sacrifice are 
therefore sinners. 

This shows us what must be the character 
of the interposing priest ; he must be acceptable 
to God. " Such an high-priest became us, who 
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin- 
ners." One who was himself a sinner could 
answer no purpose as prevailing intercessor 
between God and sinners. Again, he must be 
capable of being affected with the feeling of our 
infirmities, that he might have compassion upon 
us. " Wherefore in all things it behoved him 
to be made like unto his brethren, that he 
might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in 
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation 
for the sins of the people : For that he himself 
10 



110 THE GREAT CONCERN 

hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to suc- 
cour them that are tempted." " For we have 
not an high-priest which cannot be touched 
with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in 
all points tempted like as we are, yet without 
sin." In fine, he must be called of God, as 
was Aaron ; for no man can take to himself 
this office. Now in Christ, and him alone, are 
found all these qualifications. He is " the 
Apostle and High-Priest of our profession." 

But what sacrifice does this High-Priest of 
our profession offer? Some offering is indis- 
pensable. " For every high-priest is ordained 
to offer gifts and sacrifices ; wherefore it is 
of necessity that this man have somewhat 
also to offer." Another passage from the 
epistle to the Hebrews will show what this 
sacrifice is. "For if the blood of bulls and 
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling 
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the 
flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself 
without spot to God, purge your consciences 
from dead works to serve the living God?" 
The sacrifice which he offered, then, was the 
sacrifice of himself. 

What has now been said shows us the con- 
dition of man. He has sinned, and by sin 



OF SALVATION. Ill 

provoked God to wrath. Incensed justice, as 
it were, seizes him, binds him, as was Isaac, 
and lifts the knife, to strike the blow. In 
this situation, no prayers, no tears, nor any- 
thing the sinner can do, will avail. " Sacri- 
fice and offering thou wouldest not." Christ, 
being made a priest, now, by virtue of his 
office, pleads for the sinner, and offers, in 
his stead, to suffer what divine justice was 
about to inflict upon him. Justice accepts of 
the Lamb of the Lord's providing — the Lord 
Jesus Christ — and sets the sinner free, but 
slays the sacrifice. Between God and the 
sinner there is now reconciliation. The vic- 
tim has suffered, and the charge against the 
sinner is removed. This sacrifice, being of 
infinitely more value than the sinner, pur- 
chases for him many favours, which his High- 
Priest takes care to have bestowed upon him ; 
that is, he intercedes for him, taking care, if 
we may so speak, that he may receive all the 
blessings purchased by the sacrifice. 

Third. The Lord Jesus Christ is also a king. 
He was foretold as such in prophecy. "Yet 
have I set my king upon my holy hill of 
Zion." The angel that appeared to Mary thus 
spoke of him : " He shall be great, and shall 
be called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord 



112 THE GREAT CONCERN 

God shall give unto him the throne of his 
father David ; and he shall reign over the 
house of Jacob forever and ever ; and of his 
kingdom there shall be no end." He calls 
himself a king. " My kingdom," says he, " is 
not of this world." And for his adherence to 
this, the Jews crucified him. 

In regard to his kingly office, I have room 
only for a few hints, such as suit our present 
purpose. — First. In virtue of this office he has 
power to enact all the laws which are neces- 
sary for the good of his subjects.— Second. He 
has power to reduce to obedience all who 
belong to his kingdom. "The Lord said unto 
my Lord — thy people shall be willing in the 
day of thy power." If they rebel, he can 
bring them into subjection. — Third. He can 
protect them against all their enemies. "The 
Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, 
the Lord is our king ; he will save us." — 
Fourth. He has power to conquer all his 
enemies. "He must reign till he hath put 
all enemies under his feet." He can subdue 
all things unto himself. "According to the 
working whereby he is able even to subdue 
all things unto himself." "All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth." 
He is "head over all things to the church." 



OF SALVATION. 113 

And whatever is needful for the church he will 
supply. 

III. In Christ the convinced sinner may find 
relief against a threefold evil. First. He finds 
himself extremely ignorant, as to the mind 
and will of God. He knows not what to do. 
To sit still is ruinous ; and if he move, it may 
be in the wrong direction. In this difficulty 
he may find relief in Christ's prophetical 
office ; for in virtue of this office, the sinner 
is translated out of darkness into marvellous 
light. Whether there were purposes of mercy 
and grace or not, in the divine mind, it could 
not have been known, had not Christ revealed 
it. " No man hath seen God at any time : 
the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom 
of the Father, he hath declared him." Second. 
The awakened sinner is burdened with guilt, 
against which nothing but Christ's priestly 
office can afTord relief. For there is no way 
of purging the conscience from dead works, 
but by the application of the blood of Christ, 
who, " through the eternal Spirit," offered him- 
self for this very purpose. Third. In Christ 
there is a relief from the power of sin. Sin 
insults and enslaves the sinner ; and he cannot 
break away from its merciless dominion, but in 
the strength of Christ. 

10* 



114 THE GREAT CONCERN 

IV. The Lord Jesus Christ is one in whom 
the doubting sinner finds a threefold torment- 
ing scruple removed. First. When the sinner 
begins to feel the burden of his sins, he asks 
where he can find one able to undertake for 
him. He sees mountains in his way, which 
he cannot remove. He knows no one in 
heaven or earth, to whom he may apply for 
relief. If man were willing, his strength is 
wholly incompetent. In Christ he finds the 
needed strength. " I have laid help upon one 
that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen 
out of the people." He is the Lord in whom 
is everlasting strength. Second. When the 
sinner hears of one able to relieve him, he 
still may doubt whether that ability will be 
employed in his behalf. Many, when Christ 
was on earth, came to him to be healed of 
diseases, without doubting his ability to heal 
them, but fearing that he would not be willing. 
The leper cried, " If thou wilt, thou canst 
make me clean." Now, in the scriptural 
view of Christ our King, this difficulty is re- 
moved. As he is the Lord, mighty to save, 
having all power in heaven and in earth ; 
so he is Jesus, willing to save, designing to 
employ his power for this end. Third. There 
may still be another doubt in the mind of a 



OF SALVATION. 115 

sinner ; he may fear the Father's unwillingness 
to grant the Son a suitable commission for his 
work. But his fears on this ground may soon 
be removed ; for Christ is one whom the Father 
has sealed, anointed, and set apart for that 
very work. He is the beloved Son, in whom 
the Father is well pleased, and who has power 
to save to the uttermost all who come to God 
by him. 

V. Christ removes a threefold obstruction 
to the sinner's salvation, arising from the 
character and attributes of God. First. Jus- 
tice declared that the sinner was worthy of 
death. But he is now able to answer, "In 
Christ I have suffered the penalty." Second. 
Holiness declares that nothing impure shall 
have admittance. But Christ answers, I have 
power to purge them by the Spirit. Third. 
But it still remains to show this to the sinner. 
Christ, therefore, becomes the messenger to 
impart the welcome news, that all these obsta- 
cles are removed. 

VI. Christ furnishes the sinner with a three- 
fold defence against his adversaries. First. 
Satan charges him with things which he 
cannot deny ; but Christ furnishes an answer 
to them all. Second. Satan lays deep plots 
against him, which he cannot discover ; but 



116 THE GREAT CONCERN 

Christ gives him wisdom to escape the snares, 
and to know the depths of Satan. Third. 
These adversaries fall upon him with a force 
which he cannot resist ; but he is made more 
than a conqueror through Christ strengthening 
him. 

VII. That there may be nothing wanting, 
the Lord Jesus Christ can satisfy the mind, the 
conscience, and the heart. He fills the mind 
with light ; he pacifies the conscience ; and 
presents an object suited to the holiest desires 
of a renewed heart. As a prophet, he opens 
blind eyes, and pours light upon dark minds. 
As a priest, he stops the mouth of an awakened 
and accusing conscience. As a king, he 
bestows what is sufficient to content the 
heart, even himself, and every other needed 
blessing. 

For all these glorious purposes is Christ 
offered in the Gospel to all who need him. 
He invites the weary and heavy laden to man- 
sions of everlasting rest. He is proposed in 
the everlasting Gospel as the object of faith, 
on whom the sinner is to believe in order to 
salvation. 

Section IV. Faith, or believing in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, considered. — The duty of belie v- 



OF SALVATION. 117 

ing, or of exercising faith, is the foundation of 
all duties. Hence its nature and evidences are 
set forth in the sacred Scriptures in a multitude 
of passages, and by a very great variety of 
illustrations and forms of expression. 

First. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is 
looking to him. " Look unto me, and be ye 
saved, all the ends of the earth ; for I am God 
and there is none else." In the Epistle to the 
Hebrews is a similar passage : " Let us run 
with patience the race that is set before us, 
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of 
our faith." Perhaps here is an allusion to the 
brazen serpent, which Moses erected on a pole 
in the wilderness, to which those who were 
bitten with the fiery serpents were to look, and 
be healed. He who is led to believe, then, is 
one who feels the smart of the sting of sin. 
And if he wish to be cured of its deadly venom, 
he must look to Jesus, the author and finisher 
of faith. As it was with those stung by the 
fiery serpents, if he will not look he cannot 
live. A sense of present pain, and an appre- 
hension of future danger, give rise to faith. 
The sinner looks to Christ as God, who has 
made provision for salvation. He looks to him 
as ordained by divine appointment for this 
very end. He looks to him, and trusts in him 



118 THE GREAT CONCERN 

alone, as an all-sufficient remedy for the malady 
of sin. 

Second. To believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, is to come to him. So faith is expressed 
both in the Old and New Testament. Surely 
shall one say : " In the Lord have I righteous- 
ness and strength; even to him shall men 
come." "Return, ye backsliding children, 
and I will heal your backslidings." To this 
the people answer : " Behold, we come unto 
thee; for thou art the Lord our God." And 
by the same expression is faith spoken of in 
the New Testament. "All that the Father 
giveth me shall come to me, and him that 
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." "He 
that cometh to me shall never hunger, and 
he that believeth on me shall never thirst." 
" Ye will not come to me, that ye might have 
life." Here are several things to be noticed in 
regard to this manner of expressing faith. 
First. Persons, before believing, are at a dis- 
tance from God. Like the prodigal, they are 
away from their father's house in a far country, 
hungry, thirsty, and destitute. Second. On 
the sinner's part it is a painful conviction of 
present want and future wrath, which occasions 
his believing. He is hungry, and without food ; 



OF SALVATIOX. 119 

he is thirsty, and can find no drink. The 
starving prodigal would have been glad of the 
meanest pittance of food ; but where he then 
was, he could not have it. So it is with sin- 
ners. When the Lord opens their eyes to see 
their condition, they find themselves far away 
from Christ ; and then a pressing sense of want 
follows, which is the spring of their turning 
towards the Lord. On the Lord's part, that 
which causes their coming to him, is his calling 
and drawing them : " Come unto me, all ye 
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." "No man can come to me 
except the Father, which hath sent me, draw 
him." 

" Third. To believe in Christ is, to Jlee, to 
run to him. He is " a strong tower ; the 
righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Here 
we may have " a strong consolation, who have 
fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set 
before us/' The awakened sinner is like the 
manslayer of old ; he was nowhere safe but in 
the city of refuge. The avenger of blood had 
a commission to slay him, if found out of this 
city. So justice has a warrant against sinners, 
and pursues them. Death, the officer and 
executioner, closely follows the guilty, and 
executes his commission, if he overtake them 



120 THE GREAT CONCERN 

before they reach the city of refuge, the Lord 
Jesus. 

Fourth. To believe in Christ is to cast our 
burden upon the Lord. "Cast thy burden 
upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee." 
Sin is the heaviest of burdens. The Psalmist 
found it so. "Mine iniquities are gone over 
mine head ; as an heavy burden, they are too 
heavy for me." They were so heavy a bur- 
den to the fallen angels, as to press them down 
into the bottomless pit. They have always 
been so heavy, that " the whole creation groan- 
eth and travaileth in pain together until now." 
Even those who have the first-fruits of the 
Spirit, and so have this burden greatly light- 
ened, while " in this tabernacle do groan, being 
burdened." Nothing but a Saviour can re- 
move this burden. 

Fifth. To believe is to put on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. " Put ye on the Lord Jesus 
Christ." Man by nature, like Adam, is naked. 
The fig-leaf garments of his own righteousness 
will not shelter him from the storm of deserved 
wrath. No robe can cover him, but that of a 
Saviour's righteousness. And to believe is to 
put on Christ for righteousness. Without 
Christ, man has no ornament, no covering. 
He needs to go to Christ for white raiment of 



OF SALVATION. 121 

beauty and glory. This, then, is faith ; to see 
in Christ our ornament, and our covering, and 
defence. These hide the deformity of sin, and 
satisfy the soul. 

Sixth. To believe is to receive Christ. " But 
as many as received him, to them gave he 
power to become the sons of God, even to them 
that believe on his name." Sometimes the 
same is expressed in the idea of having sin re- 
mitted through faith in Christ. " To him give 
all the prophets witness, that through his name 
whosoever believeth in him shall receive re- 
mission of sins." And again: "We also joy 
in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by 
whom we have now received the atonement," 
or reconciliation. Here we see, that one who 
is to believe is one w T ho needs Christ, and 
needs righteousness ; one who is condemned 
to die, and wants pardon. And in receiving 
Christ, he receives all his benefits, for they are 
inseparable. Here, too, we see what faith is ; 
it is the acceptance of Christ's gifts, for the end 
for which they are offered. 

Seventh. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
is to lean upon him; to stay ourselves upon 
him. " Who is this that cometh up from the 
wilderness leaning upon her beloved ?" "Who 
is among you that feareth the Lord, that obey- 
11 



122 THE GREAT CONCERN 

eth the voice of his servant, that walketh in 
darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in 
the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." 
Here, too, as before, we see what the sinner's 
state is before believing. He is oppressed with 
a burden which he cannot bear ; he is facing a 
storm which he cannot endure. He must have 
a support, or he will fall ; and if he fall, he will 
be dashed in pieces. He is on the brink of the 
pit, ready to plunge into its fiery abyss ; and if 
his foot once slide, there will be no deliverance. 
He sees his peril, and sees that Christ is 
able to support and save him. He leans 
upon his Saviour, and finds the expected relief. 
Eighth. To believe in Christ, is to lay hold 
of him ; to take hold of his strength. " Let 
him lay hold of my strength, that he may 
make peace with me, and he shall make 
peace with me." " Thus saith the Lord unto 
the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose 
the things that please me, and take hold of my 
covenant." In the New Testament it is called 
apprehending Christ. " Not as though I had 
already attained, either were already perfect ; 
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that 
for which I also am apprehended of Christ 
Jesus." In another passage, we are said " to 
lay hold upon the hope set before us." Like 



OF SALVATION. 123 

Peter attempting to walk upon the sea, the sin- 
ner is ready to sink and perish ; but he lays 
hold on Christ, and thus is saved. 

There are many other ways of expressing 
faith employed in the Bible, such as cleaving 
to the Lord, submitting to the righteousness of 
God, and opening the door to Christ ; but those 
already given will be sufficient for our present 
purpose. 

Section V. The nature of Faith continued. 
First. If Ave bear in mind what has been of- 
fered in the foregoing section, we shall not 
find it difficult to understand what is implied 
in the duty of believing. We can easily see 
that it implies a distinct understanding of sin 
and misery. The Israelite, bitten by the fiery 
serpents, knew his wound and his danger, be- 
fore he looked to the remedy. The prodigal 
knew his want, before he thought of returning 
to his father's house. The manslayer under- 
stood his danger, before he fled to the city of 
refuge. The burdened sinner is sensible of the 
weight of sin, before the Lord relieves him of 
it. The sinner will never flee to Christ till he 
well knows the evil of sin. 

This sense of sin and misery is also deep, 
as well as distinct. Many who live under the 



124 THE GREAT CONCERN 

Gospel, have the latter without the former. 
But in the mind of the believer, it has a 
deep root. It moreover affects his heart, and 
takes hold of his affections. Fear, grief, hatred, 
and revenge, take their turn in the soul ; grief 
for the offence done to God ; hatred against 
sin ; and self-revenge for the folly of incur- 
ring the guilt of sin. Indeed, those who have 
never been affected on account of sin, are 
strangers to saving faith. Half-awakened sin- 
ners hope to have their wound cured, without 
applying in earnest to the great Physician. 
They stop short of believing, and employ 
some remedy less disagreeable to them than 
to lay aside their easily besetting sins. If their 
eye offend them, they will not pluck it out, 
and if their hand or foot offend them, they 
will not cut it off. They want salvation on 
their own terms. But with a deep and abiding 
sense of the guilt of sin, nothing but a saving 
work will satisfy. And this feeling must 
not only be presupposed to the first actings 
of faith, but will continue in some measure 
in the soul, during the whole life of faith on 
earth. 

Second. Saving faith also implies some 
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Hence faith is 
sometimes called knowledge. "By his know- 



OF SALVATION. 125 

ledge shall my righteous servant justify many; 
for he shall bear their iniquities ;" that is, by 
the knowledge of him, or, in other words, by 
faith in him, shall my righteous servant jus- 
tify many. And three things in particular 
must be known of Christ. First. The excel- 
lence of his person must be known. The 
eye of faith must fix on him; for him we 
receive; on him we lean; on him we stay 
ourselves ; on him we cast our burdens. In 
order to do this, we must know who he is. 
We must know that he is God and man in 
one person ; " God manifest in the flesh." 
Second. His power to save must be known; 
for we cannot have faith in him, or rely on 
him, without a knowledge of his sufficiency 
for his work. Therefore he must be known 
as " the only-begotten of the Father, full of 
grace and truth ;" as the Word made flesh, 
and dwelling among us. Third. His suitable- 
ness to the sinner's case must be known. 
There may be fulness and sufficiency, without 
suitableness. God manifest in the flesh is 
indeed sufficient to accomplish the work of 
our salvation ; but in order to receive him, 
we must know that there is a way of con- 
veyance, by which that fulness may become 
ours. 

11* 



126 THE GREAT CONCERN 

Third. Saving faith, or believing on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, implies some knowledge 
of the Gospel offer of Christ. It must be 
known that Christ and his benefits are of- 
fered freely. We must also know on what 
terms the offer is made. The followers of 
Christ are " the circumcision which worship 
God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, 
and have no confidence in the flesh." Here 
are the terms; we must utterly abandon all 
confidence in the flesh; we must know that 
our prayers and tears cannot atone for our 
sin, or merit salvation ; we are to rejoice in 
the Lord; we are to glory in him alone. 
We must serve God in the way of his own 
appointment, and in the strength of that Spirit, 
whose benefits Christ has purchased for the 
believer. 

Fourth. Faith implies that the heart ac- 
cepts of these terms. Strictly speaking, this 
is faith, and the things above mentioned are 
prerequisites and accompaniments of faith. To 
accept of these terms, or to receive Christ, 
implies three things. First. It implies a re- 
nunciation of all dependence on other things 
for salvation. Hence believers are said to 
have no confidence in the flesh ; that is, they 
expect no relief from things upon which cor- 



OF SALVATION. 127 

rupt nature is prone to rely. "Assur shall 
not save us; we will not ride upon horses*, 
neither will we say any more to the work 
of our hands, Ye are our gods." "Truly 
in vain is salvation looked for from the hills, 
and from the multitude of mountains." "We 
are all as an unclean thing, and all our 
righteousnesses are as filthy rags." To whom 
can we go but to the Lord, who has the 
words of eternal life ? Second. It includes the 
assent of the will to the terms of the Gospel, 
as good and desirable. Seek not salvation 
from that which cannot save, have no con- 
fidence in the flesh, take freely whatever you 
need, and freely use what you receive ; these 
are the terms ; who that is not blind can 
refuse them ? We can conceive nothing more 
reasonable, favourable, encouraging, and con- 
descending than this. The terms are indeed 
worthy of the love, mercy, and wisdom of 
God. Third. It implies that the soul rests 
on Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Faith 
fixes on him alone. It has tried other things, 
and found them wanting. With confidence 
it rejoices and glories in Jesus Christ. It 
points the wounded conscience to a bleeding 
Saviour, and the accusing voice is hushed. 
In the robe of a Saviour's righteousness, the 



128 THE GREAT CONCERN 



"believer finds a shelter from the thunders o 
Sinai, and his furniture for every good word 
and work. 



Section VI. Import of Salvation. — I. Sal- 
vation implies three things. First. It implies 
deliverance from wrath. Sin deserves wrath ; 
the jailer felt that it did ; and therefore he fled 
for refuge, like one who runs for shelter, when 
the thundering clouds portend the near ap- 
proach of a tempest. What must I do ? " Be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
be saved." Second. It implies a title to eter- 
nal life. The awakened man desires happi- 
ness ; but how to secure it, he does not know. 
He fears that he shall never obtain it ; this 
makes him quake, and inquire what he must 
do. The answer is, as before, " Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
He who believes God's record of his Son, as- 
sents that God is true. " And this is the record, 
that God hath given to us eternal life, and this 
life is in his Son. He that hath the Son, hath 
life." Third. It implies a full possession of 
eternal life. What must I do ? asks the trem- 
bling sinner. How can I secure the promised 
possession? "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Thus you 



, 



OF SALVATION. 129 

will be " kept by the power of God, through 
faith unto salvation;" "receiving the end of 
your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 

II. Salvation has many important properties. 
A few will be described. First. It is a great 
salvation. " How shall we escape, if we neg- 
lect so great salvation." It is a great salva- 
tion in regard to its contrivance. • There was 
much wisdom in contriving the world, but in 
the salvation of the church is to be seen " the 
manifold wisdom of God." Before the fall, 
divine mercy and grace had not been glorified. 
On every' feature of creation, infinite wisdom 
and power were legible. Moral perfection 
was copied out in the nature of angels and the 
souls of men. It might then be seen, that God 
was transcendently glorious, holy, good, and 
bountiful ; but we cannot trace the footsteps of 
mercy, till the world had been defaced by sin. 
Justice plunged the rebel angels into the pit of 
darkness ; but in that transaction, mercy was 
not unveiled. Indeed, in reference to man, the 
door seemed closed against it by the threaten- 
ing, " In the day that thou eatest thereof, 
thou shalt surely die." Here, then, both in 
the justice which condemns, and the mercy 
which spares, we may see that salvation is 
great in reference to its plan. What could be 



130 THE GREAT CONCERN 

more worthy of the Lawgiver, than to show 
that his law was suited to the ends of govern- 
ment, and to the honour of the Governor ? The 
obedience of the Son of God proclaims, that it 
is man's honour to obey ; the peace which flows 
from obedience, proves it to be for his interest ; 
and pain, the consequence of sin, shows that no 
charge can be sustained against the laws and 
ways of God. What more suitable to him 
who had undertaken to protect his subjects, 
than to give proof that he could defeat the 
crafty plots, and crush the force of enemies ? 
All this is conspicuously done in the salvation 
of the church. In the plan of salvation, God 
completed to us the exhibition of his attributes, 
honoured his law, and exposed the folly and 
weakness of his great enemy. -And this also 
shows that, in reference to its author, salvation 
is great. All the persons of the glorious 
Trinity have their office in the work. The 
first proposal of it is from the love of the Father, 
the accomplishment of it is by the Son, and the 
application of it is by the Holy Spirit. The 
Son takes the " form of a servant," becomes 
the obedient and suffering victim, the vicarious 
offering for the sins of his people, and pur- 
chases redemption and all its blessings, not 
with silver and gold, which for such a purpose 



OF SALVATION. 131 

are worthless, but with his own precious blood. 
God himself first announced to Adam that a 
Saviour would come; additional revelations 
were afterwards made ; fresh beams of light 
from time to time were emitted upon the world, 
till the Sun of righteousness himself came with 
the effulgence of the Gospel. 

This is a great salvation in reference to its 
provisions for deliverance from wrath, and 
admittance to glory. The stain of sin is so 
deep that nothing but the blood of Christ can 
wash it out. Sin, an inexorable tyrant, rules 
with a rod of iron, and binds his vassals in 
chains. What this tyranny is, the tragical 
history of the world affords melancholy evi- 
dence. We see families ruined in estate and 
happiness, their reputation blasted and their 
hopes blighted ; we see interminable discords 
in neighbourhoods and communities ; we see 
oppression, violence, and murder; we see king- 
doms drenched in blood. From all this does 
salvation grant us final deliverance. It does 
more than this : it saves us from the wrath to 
come. It is salvation from the sting and the 
fear of death. It does still more : it not only 
frees the believer from the galling chains and 
the " filthy rags" of sin, but it places on his 
head a crown of life, and clothes him in robes 



132 THE GREAT CONCERN 

of righteousness and garments of salvation. 
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul 
shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed 
me with the garments of salvation; he hath 
covered me with the robes of righteousness, as 
a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, 
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." 
Thus it gives to the slaves of Satan the "power 
to become the sons of God." It grants to the 
children of wrath the privilege to become 
"heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." 
It puts believers under the mild dominion of 
grace. It gives them the indwelling of the 
Spirit, to overcome the power of indwelling 
sin. It brings them into a state of favour with 
God, sealing them by the Spirit unto the day 
of complete redemption. It brings them into 
the enjoyment of God's loving-kindness, which 
is better than life. It takes the vassals of 
Satan, and places them on a throne. "To 
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me 
in my throne ; even as I also overcame, and am 
set down with my Father in his throne ;" there 
to enjoy a life of God, a life of promise in 
heaven, a life of happiness, a life of glory, 
and such a life forever and ever. 

Second. This salvation is great ; it not only 
delivers from all evil, and grants blessings of 



OF SALVATION. 133 

infinite value ; it is not only a complete salva- 
tion in every respect, but it is a suitable one. 
It is suitable to the sinner, because it is near. 
The sinner's case requires a speedy relief. 
Its advantages are near, and its offer is near. 
On God's part all things are now ready. The 
jailer obtained speedy relief, and so may others. 
The terms of this salvation are suitable to the 
sinner's case. He cannot purchase salvation, 
and therefore he must have it as a gift, if he have 
it at all. Its nature is suited to the sinner's 
wants. Does he need pardon ? he may have 
it. Does he need repentance ? he may have it. 
Does he need grace and mercy? these, too, he 
may freely have. The security it offers is 
suited to the sinner's desires. It is security, 
and that alone, which can satisfy him. And 
what security can be greater than God's cove- 
nant promise, confirmed by an oath ? It puts be- 
lievers in a sure possession of eternal blessings. 

Section VII. Certainty of salvation to true 
believers. — First. The first argument for the 
certainty of the believer's salvation, is drawn 
from the immutability of the divine purposes. 
In all the controversies among Christians about 
divine decrees, scarcely any have ventured to 
allege that God has not determined the salva- 
12 



134 THE GREAT CONCERN 

tion of believers. If all who believe will not 
be infallibly saved, it must be either because 
God changes his purposes, or because he falls 
short of accomplishing them. But the divine 
purposes must be unchangeable, because he is 
so himself. "I am the Lord, I change not." 
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is 
from above, and cometh down from the Father 
of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither 
shadow of turning." And as God cannot 
change his purposes, so he cannot fall short of 
accomplishing them. And we have the sure 
word of God, that those who believe shall be 
saved." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved." Now the word and 
purpose of God must stand. " The grass with- 
ereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our 
God shall stand forever." " The Lord of hosts 
hath purposed, and who shall disannul it ? and 
his hand is stretched out, and who shall 
turn it back ?" " None can stay his hand, or 
say unto him, What doest thou ?" We thus 
have the purpose and promise of God. We 
have more than this : there is a covenant ; 
this covenant has seals appended to it for its 
ratification ; the Lord Jesus Christ is the surety 
of this covenant ; the blessings of this covenant 
were purchased by the blood of the Son of 



OF SALVATION. 135 

God ; the purchase is made over by way of 
legacy to believers ; this testament, being con- 
firmed by the death of the testator, is unaltera- 
ble ; the Holy Spirit is left, if we may so speak, 
as executor of this will ; and hence no believer 
can fail of salvation. 

Second. We have another argument in the 
experience of believers. We may here lay 
down the proposition, that all believers at death 
attain the full possession of this great, com- 
plete, suitable, and eternal salvation. But 
without insisting on this, we maintain that 
believers, even in this life, have some expe- 
rience of this salvation. We do not say that 
all have the same degree of it, or that all 
can give equally distinct accounts of their ex- 
perience. But all may understand that sal- 
vation comprehends a deliverance from evil, 
and a grant of all that is good. All true 
believers have experience, that a gracious de- 
liverance from wrath is begun. Before they 
gave their hearts to the Lord, they were 
brought to see destruction as it were before 
them, and they beheld it with " a fearful look- 
ing for of wrath and fiery indignation." While 
trembling on the verge of ruin, they disco- 
vered the Lord Jesus Christ. They saw his 
sufficiency, and understood the terms of safety. 



136 THE GREAT CONCERN 

They were pleased with the terms, and laid 
hold on Christ. At this stage of the believer's 
experience, he begins to find rest, in a greater 
or less degree. Deliverance, thus begun, is 
a pledge of full freedom. Nor is this all; 
the believer now experiences, that salvation 
from the dominion of sin is begun. The law 
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, makes 
him free from the law of sin and death. 
However great the diversity in different per- 
sons, every one in whom salvation is begun 
has some experience of this kind. And if 
there is deliverance from the power, there 
will be also from the pollution of sin ; or there 
could be no confidence in approaching the 
throne of grace. Nor should we here forget 
to notice the experience of the freedom of 
Christ's subjects. The believer finds freedom 
in the service of God ; it becomes easy, and, 
as it were, natural to him. He finds a re- 
freshment in obedience ; a beginning of that 
satisfaction with God's likeness, which is to be 
completed in heaven. He finds a beginning of 
heaven in his soul. All believers, in a greater 
or less degree, experience Christ as the hope 
of glory in their hearts. That these expe- 
riences are not oftener clearly discovered and 
comfortably enjoyed, must be attributed to the 



OF SALVATION. 137 

unfaithfulness of believers. But whether the 
experience be more or less clear and satisfac- 
tory, if it exist at all, it is the beginning of 
eternal salvation. 

We know that the believer does experience 
such things, from the testimony of the word 
of God. The affrighted jailer soon found rest 
and joy. The distressed inquirers on the day 
of Pentecost soon began to "eat their meat 
with gkdness and singleness of heart, praising 
God, and having favour with all the people." 
We know this too from the testimony of be- 
lievers in every age, even in our own. And 
though they should hold their peace in this 
matter, we could see the evidence with our 
eyes. We could often see the wicked sud- 
denly stopped in their career of wickedness; 
we might see them filled with alarm for their 
souls, and then turning from sin, serving God, 
and enjoying sweet peace of conscience. 



12* 



138 THE GREAT CONCERN 

CHAPTER IV. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. 

Section I. Several sorts of unbelievers de- 
scribed. — That the reader may be induced to 
inquire carefully whether or not he is among 
any of the several sorts of unbelievers, let 
him bear in mind that faith and the preach- 
ing of the word are blessings unspeakably 
great, inasmuch as they are necessary in the 
plan of salvation ; that the condition of the 
believer is unspeakably happy; and that as- 
surance of eternal salvation is attainable. " Be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shal* 
be saved." Proper care and honesty with 
our own hearts would surely enable us tc 
know whether we believe or not ; whether or 
not we have right views and feelings in refer- 
ence to Christ and his salvation. We may 
infer, moreover, from what was offered in the 
foregoing chapter, that perseverance in faith 
is not the condition of salvation, or foundation 
of our title to it. He who believes shall be 
saved. It is not, believe and you shall be 
saved, if you persevere ; but, believe and you 
shall be saved. And as belief is salvation, so 



OF SALVATION. 139 

is unbelief destruction. It is self-murder of 
the worst kind, of trie soul. For a man to dis- 
believe is, like the Pharisees, to reject the 
counsel of God against himself. 

Consider then, reader, the momentous im- 
portance of the subject ; for upon it your ever- 
lasting destiny depends. Consider whether 
you have faith; "for all men have not faith," 
and without it, it is impossible to please God. 
Indeed, our Saviour declared that there were 
few saved. Consider that very many have 
been awfully deceived, and that you are in 
danger of being deceived, as well as others. 
The Laodiceans thought they had need of 
nothing, while they were poor, and miserable, 
and blind, and naked. "Not every one that 
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the 
will of my Father which is in heaven." The 
ten virgins all supposed themselves wise, but 
five of them proved to be foolish. Consider 
that deception is attended with consequences 
awful beyond conception. Consider that it is 
for your own interest to make an impartial 
trial of yourself. Deception cannot last for- 
ever ; death, if nothing else, will show us 
what we are prepared for. We may trust 
to cunningly devised fables in life, but in 



140 THE GREAT CONCERN 

death there will be no fables. Let the word 
of God prevail with you. "Examine your- 
selves whether ye be in the faith ; prove your 
own selves ; know ye not your own selves, 
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be 
reprobates ?" 

First. All who are grossly ignorant of divine 
truth are to be classed among unbelievers. Be- 
lieving implies a knowledge of the thing be- 
lieved. We must have " an heart to know the 
Lord." And we must know our need of Christ. 
' The whole need not a physician, but they that 
are sick." Those who do not know that they 
are diseased, will not inquire for the physician. 
Indeed, faith is expressed by knowledge. It 
is a "translation out of darkness, into God's 
marvellous light." It is a coming to the 
"knowledge of the truth." Ignorance, then, 
is no excuse for disobedience. 

Second. All the openly profane, those who 
live in the practice of notorious sins, are un- 
doubtedly to be classed among unbelievers. 
Those who lie, swear, and steal, sometimes call 
themselves believers. "They profess that 
they know God ; but in works they deny him, 
being abominable, and disobedient, and unto 
every good work reprobate." " Thou be- 
lievest that there is one God ; thou doest well : 



OF SALVATION. 141 

the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt 
thou know, O vain man, that faith without 
works is dead ? As the body without the spirit 
is dead, so faith without works is dead also." 
All profane swearers may lay aside all preten 
sions to faith. Upon the flying roll in the 
vision of Zechariah, there was written a curse 
against swearers. False swearers, (and all 
profane swearing is of this kind,) together with 
the beams and stones of their houses, were to 
be consumed. And profane swearing is not 
limited to taking God's name in vain. We are 
not to swear by any profane oath ; if we do, 
we may lay aside all pretensions to faith. 
44 Swear not, neither by heaven, neither by 
earth, neither by any other oath." Taking an 
oath is an act of religious worship, paid to God ; 
and hence, to take an oath, except as pre- 
scribed by law, is always to take God's holy 
name in vain ; and hence, too, to swear by any 
thing but God alone, is always to put some- 
thing else in the place of God ; it is idolatry. 
Our Saviour charged the Jews with profane 
swearing, because they swore by their head, 
and by the altar, and by the temple. Those, 
then, who swear by faith, or by conscience, or 
by any other oath habitually, must be destitute 
of faith. 



142 THE GREAT CONCERN 

The unclean, or those who live in the practice 
of lewdness, are undoubtedly unbelievers. And 
the apostle expressly classes them with unbeliev- 
ers. "Unto them that are defiled and unbeliev- 
ing is nothing pure ; but even their mind and 
conscience is defiled." The works of the flesh 
are all works of unbelief. " Now the works of 
the flesh are manifest ; which are these ; adul- 
tery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred," and such like ; and 
then the Apostle adds, " they which do such 
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 
" They that are Christ's have crucified the 
flesh with the affections and lusts." 

Drunkards must also be classed with unbe- 
lievers. Drunkards shall not inherit the king- 
dom of God. And among these we may include 
those who waste their time in grog-shops, and 
among intemperate companions. "Wo unto 
them that rise up early in the morning, that 
they may follow strong drink ; that continue 
until night, till wine inflame them." Some 
destroy their reason by drunkenness ; this is 
more than beastly ; for the beasts are never 
guilty of it. Others glory in their shame. So 
it was of old. " Wo unto them that are mighty 
to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle 
strong drink." Others go farther still ; and 



OF SALVATION. 143 

not only go to ruin themselves, but carry others 
along with them. " Wo unto him that giveth 
his neighbour drink, that putteth thy bottle to 
him, and makest him drunken. The cup of the 
Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, 
and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory." 

All liars are among unbelievers. All such 
are called children of the devil, who is " a liar, 
and the father of it." And "whosoever loveth 
and maketh a lie" are to be shut out from the 
" holy city, New Jerusalem." In short, among 
the openly profane, all of whom are unbelievers, 
must be reckoned all thieves, murderers, evil 
speakers, deceivers, and Sabbath-breakers. 

Third. Those who habitually neglect secret 
duties, particularly prayer, are unbelievers. 
Prayer is the very breath of the new creature. 
As soon as created, it prays ; and so, where 
there is habitual neglect of secret prayer, 
there is not the new creature — there is not 
faith. 

Fourth. All who expect to be saved by the 
merit of their own good works are unbelievers. 
And what multitudes are there who have no 
other foundation of their hopes than this. They 
make their own works their Saviour; thus 
proving that they have not faith in the Saviour 
of sinners. 



144 THE GREAT CONCERN 

Section II. What are no true marks of 
faith. — First. A man's thinking that he has 
faith, and confidently affirming that he has, 
does not prove it to he so. Where there is the 
least faith, there is commonly the most self- 
confidence. Faith occasions a holy jealousy, 
of which unbelievers know nothing. It dis- 
covers to a man the deceitfulness of his heart ; 
and this makes him distrustful, rather than 
self-confident. But our Lord positively says, 
that many who think they believe will be 
miserably disappointed. "Many will say to 
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not pro- 
phesied in thy name ? and in thy name cast out 
devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful 
works ? And then will I profess unto them, I 
never knew you; depart from me, ye that 
work iniquity." 

Second. Some think they are believers, be- 
cause they never doubted the truth of the 
Gospel. You say you never doubted, there- 
fore you believe. Might we not rather say, 
you never had doubts, therefore you do not 
believe ? Freedom from doubt may be nothing 
but your indifference. If we should hear it 
reported, on good authority, that a man in an- 
other quarter of the world has a vast estate, we 
should not be inclined to doubt it at all. But, 



OF SALVATION. 145 

if we were farther told, that our maintenance 
depended upon our obtaining a share in that 
estate, and that if we would take the necessary- 
steps, the owner would give us that share, we 
should not so easily credit the report. When 
we begin to discover our personal interest in 
the matter, we then begin to entertain suspi- 
cions that it may not be true. So it is with 
many who hear the Gospel report. They do 
not regard it as a thing in which they are per- 
sonally concerned, and therefore do not take 
the trouble to dispute or doubt it. While they 
slumber on in carnal security, and see not 
their own need of Christ, they are quite sure 
that they believe. But when they begin to 
feel the convictions of an awakened and accus- 
ing conscience, and begin to see how much is 
depending, they find their former belief to be 
nothing but an easy credulity in that for which 
they felt no concern. When concern arises, 
then doubts and suspicions arise along with it. 
But their freedom from doubt may also arise 
from a " profound ignorance of the mystery 
of the Gospel ;" or from their ignorance of 
God's holiness and their own sinfulness. 
They regard sin as a small thing, and recon- 
ciliation to God as very easy. But when 
awakened to some just impressions of the 
13 



146 THE GREAT CONCERN 

awful guilt of impenitence and unbelief, as set 
forth in God's word, and applied to their hearts 
by his Holy Spirit, they often find it difficult to 
believe that a God of infinite holiness will ever 
receive and save them on any terms. 

Third. Some conclude that they have faith, 
because they live what they call " good moral 
lives." This is an exceedingly common delu- 
sion. If we weigh this kind of faith in the 
balance of God's sanctuary, we find it wanting. 
Not that we are to think lightly of a "good 
moral life." Not to live such a life would give 
evidence of a want of faith. But because the 
profane and immoral do not believe, we must 
not hence conclude that all who are not profane 
and immoral do believe. While a man's ex- 
ternal conduct is regular and moral, he may be 
plotting the blackest crimes in his heart. Pride, 
ambition, envy, malice, worldliness, and " cove- 
tousness, which is idolatry," may reign there. 
There are lusts of the mind as well as lusts of 
the flesh. And if we do not fulfil the lusts of 
the flesh, we may still revel in the lusts of the 
mind, and thus be " the children of wrath, even 
as others." Indeed, the eyes of some are so 
dazzled with the fancied goodness of their own 
morality, that it becomes to them a barrier be- 
tween the Saviour and their souls. O, that 



OF SALVATION. 147 

this fond conceit were banished from the world ! 
Good morality is an indispensable part, but it is 
not the whole of vital religion. 

Fourth. Others conclude that they have 
faith, because they have had convictions of sin. 
If peace follow these seasons of anxiety, many 
conclude at once that it is peace from the Holy 
Spirit. But because the work of faith begins 
in conviction of sin, it does not follow that all 
who have ever had convictions are savingly 
converted. Judas, Pilate, Simon Magus, and 
many others, have had pungent convictions, 
without faith. Indeed it is possible for men to 
grow worse, instead of better, by convictions of 
sin. Sins against light are greatly aggravated; 
and he who sins under the lashes of an awaken- 
ed conscience, sins against light. And sin- 
ning under such circumstances produces its 
effect on the heart. By their convictions some 
are driven from the more gross into the more 
secret sins, or from profaneness into morality ; 
where they stop, without ever arriving at faith. 
Some go through their whole life under the 
painful vicissitude of sin and conviction. Some 
put their convictions in the place of Christ. 
They think, because they have been concerned 
for their souls, and God's Spirit has dealt with 
them, that God loves them, and therefore will 



148 THE GREAT CONCERN 

save them. Others despise and quench con- 
victions, and thus harden their hearts till they 
provoke the Lord to give them up to vile affec- 
tions, " because that when they knew God they 
glorified him not as God." Others give them- 
selves up to despair, and plunge headlong into 
ruin ; as did Judas. 

Fifth. Some conclude that they have faith, 
because they have some knowledge of the 
things of God. But because knowledge is ne- 
cessary to faith, it does not follow that all are 
believers who have some knowledge of the let- 
ter of the Gospel. Men may have much of 
this kind of knowledge, without saving faith. 
Knowledge may be obtained without special aid 
from the Holy Spirit : but faith cannot. Hence 
it is called " the faith of the operation of God ;" 
"the work of faith with power;" "the work- 
ing of his mighty power," &c. Indeed, many 
who have lived in open profaneness have been 
eminent for some of the gifts that are of use to 
the edification of the Church. Judas was of 
this description. The devil probably has more 
knowledge of the mystery of the Gospel, as to 
the letter of it, than any man on earth: and 
more than this, it is said, that " the devils be- 
lieve and tremble." So men may have their 
minds full of truth, and their hearts destitute 



OF SALVATION. 149 

of saving power ; like the reptile which is said 
to have a precious gem in its head, but its body- 
full of deadly poison. 

Sixth. There may be delight in the Gospel 
without faith. For when the work of faith is 
wrought in the heart, it is commonly, if not al- 
ways preceded by convictions of sin, which 
cause distress in a greater or less degree. And 
as this distress, so faith and these transient de- 
lights (for they are usually transient) come by 
the instrumentality of the word ; and if some 
emotions of joy follow a little awakening; if 
there be but a little relish of the word : a little 
taste of the sweetness of heavenly things, it is 
immediately mistaken for faith. Faith also, like 
this spurious joy, produces desire to enjoy the 
ordinances of religion; and hence the liability 
to deception from counterfeit appearances. The 
parable of the stony ground hearers shows that 
there may be a high degree of joy ; a kind of 
delight in approaching to God, when there is 
no work of grace in the heart. Christ said to 
the Jews of John the Baptist : " He was a burn- 
ing and a shining light, and ye were willing for 
a season to rejoice in his light." And these 
emotions, which so much resemble the joys of 
the true believer, may proceed from various 
causes. With some it may be the effect of 
13* 



150 THE GREAT CONCERN 






novelty. We are ever fond of something new. 
To persons who have had little or no instruc- 
tion in religion, or to those who have thought 
but little on it, the things of the gospel are 
something new ; and they are surprised at the 
greatness of the advantages promised to be- 
lievers. This, especially till the novelty be 
worn off, produces delight. A person may be 
under distress of mind ; and in this condition 
may be entertained with an account of the gift 
and benefits of a Saviour to lost sinners, and of 
the joys of heaven. Now, this may not only 
occasion a diversion from trouble, but produce 
great delight. We may experience worldly 
disappointments, and be diverted from them by 
the same spurious joy. Young persons parti- 
cularly, in the fervour of youthful passion, are 
liable to be carried away with false joy, under 
the presentation of the glorious promises of the 
Gospel. Some preachers have such a fluency 
of language and warmth of affection, that they 
occasion, even in impenitent hearers, something 
of the feelings which glow in their own bosoms ; 
or a sudden and agreeable surprise at an in- 
genious turn of expression, or the expression 
of a novel and striking thought, may awaken 
attention, and produce feelings of pleasure, 
which many will mistake for gracious affeo 



OF SALVATION. 151 

tions. Lastly, men who have no faith may- 
abound in external duties, and, like the Phari- 
sees, call this righteousness ; and if, by the mul- 
tiplication of religious or moral duties, or any 
other way, we can persuade ourselves that we 
are righteous, it must produce a greater or less 
degree of joy. 

Seventh. Not every change in a man, though 
it be for the better, is proof of saving faith. 
There may be great changes without faith. 
There may be a great change wrought in the 
mind of a man without faith. Man is by na- 
ture blind; sin has put out the eyes of the soul. 
Hence an unregenerate state is called darkness, 
a regenerate state light. But without this light, 
men may acquire much knowledge of divine 
truth. Thus the apostle speaks of those "who 
were once enlightened, and had tasted the 
good word of God ;" but who might finally be 
lost. Judas and Balaam had so much light 
as to be able to instruct others, and yet they 
never had saving faith. There may be a 
great change wrought in the conscience without 
faith. There may be carnal security, then pun- 
gent convictions, or awakenings, and then a 
kind of peace, and yet no faith. There may 
be a great change wrought in the affections 
without saving faith. There may be sorrow 



152 THE GREAT CONCERN 

for sin, fear of wrath, and flashes of joy, with- 
out true faith. The will may be changed 
without saving faith. How many faithless ones 
have been ready to say as the children of 
Israel said to Moses : " Go thou near, and 
hear all that the Lord our God shall say; 
and speak thou unto us all that the Lord 
our God shall speak unto thee ; and we will 
hear it and do it." There may be very great 
changes in the conduct, where there is no faith. 
The vicious may become moral ; the drunkard 
may become a sober man ; and the externally 
honest and moral man be turned into a pro- 
fessor of religion. There are those who have 
once " escaped the pollutions of the world, 
through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus 
Christ," and have become " again entangled 
therein and overcome;" thus showing that they 
never had saving faith ; " the latter end is worse 
with them than the beginning." 

Eighth. And, finally, a man may have some 
sort of faith, without saving faith. There is 
one form of this faith, which, for the sake of 
distinction, we may call cradle-faith, or a faith 
w r hich men bring with them from their child- 
hood. As far back as they can remember, 
they always believed. But this faith is not 
" the faith of the operation of God ;" it is a 



OF SALVATION. 153 

weed that grows of its own accord. It grows, 
too, in a bad soil, in corrupt, unsanctified na- 
ture. Nor is it kept alive by showers of 
heavenly grace, like saving faith. It over- 
looks the Mediator, and flees to a false refuge. 
This is proved by its fruit. Saving faith brings 
forth the fruit of holiness, this does not. There 
is another kind of faith, which we may call 
rational faith. It goes one step beyond the 
former. That is merely the effect of custom 
and education ; but this is the assent of the 
mind, that the Bible is true ; an assent which 
is given after examination of the evidences 
of a divine revelation. Persons who have 
this kind of faith, pretend to be very candid 
and liberal. They think it highly unreason- 
able not to be cautious in examining the 
grounds of their religious belief. Upon ex- 
amining the evidences of Christianity, they 
find them conclusive ; and hence they are led 
to give a general assent to the Scriptures, 
and this is the substance and end of their 
faith. This kind of faith is as common among 
the learned, as the former is among the igno- 
rant. Another kind of faith, which is not 
saving, maybe called temporary faith. Such 
was the faith of the stony ground hearers. It 
has a transient effect upon the soul ; for they 



154 THE GREAT CONCERN 

heard the word with joy. But it is not a work 
of grace in the heart ; and hence it continues 
but a short time. 

Section III. Some of the marks of saving 
faith, — It will of course be admitted on all 
hands, that the Christian graces are exercised 
in different degrees by different persons, and 
in different degrees by the same person at dif- 
ferent times. It is here taken for granted 
that there are marks, or evidences, by which 
saving faith may be known. "These things 
have I written unto you that believe on the 
name of the Son of God, that ye may know 
that ye have eternal life." Indeed much of 
the Bible is designed to assist persons in form- 
ing a judgment of their own character and 
state ; so that if some do not know whether 
they believe or not, it is not because the Scrip- 
tures do not give the marks by which faith may 
be known. 

I. One who has saving faith heartily em- 
braces and approves the Scripture method of 
saving sinners by the mediation of Jesus Christ, 
and, renouncing all other ways, relies on this 
alone for salvation. This will be clear if we 
consider, 

First. What the way of salvation proposed 
in the Gospel is. The Gospel presupposes 



OF SALVATION. 155 

that man by sin has become " wretched, and 
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ;" 
that is, that man, in and of himself, can do 
nothing to obtain salvation ; that he is blind, 
and knows not how to take one step towards 
happiness ; and that he has nothing to secure 
him from deserved wrath. He has become, as 
it were, bankrupt ; he has nothing to pay the 
immense debt he has contracted by sin. Now, 
in this sinful, weak, and blind condition of 
man, the Gospel proposes a remedy for his 
disease, a supply for all his wants. He is 
wretched, and the Gospel promises him the 
true honour; he is miserable, and it offers 
everlasting happiness ; he is poor, and it holds 
out to him the best of all riches ; he is blind, 
and it comes with eye-salve to give him sight ; 
he is naked, and it provides him with the 
spotless garments of a Saviour's righteous- 
ness. Every thing which man, as a sinner, 
needs is supplied in Jesus Christ, " in whom 
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and know- 
ledge." "For it pleased the Father that in 
him should all fulness dwell." In him the 
sinner may find " durable riches and righteous- 
ness." As he says to the Laodiceans, so he 
says to all: "I counsel thee to buy of me 
gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be 



156 THE GREAT CONCERN 






rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be 
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness 
do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with 
eye-salve, that thou mayest see." And there 
is not only the supply itself, but there is also 
provision for putting the sinner in possession 
of it, in such a way as to promote the believer's 
highest happiness, and at the same time both 
to honour God and his holy law, and exalt his 
free grace. If we have faith, we shall see the 
truth of all this ; and seeing we must approve 
and choose it. 

Second. Consider also the nature of the ap- 
probation which faith gives to the Gospel. 
Approbation always implies knowledge. Be- 
fore we approve of the Gospel plan of salva- 
tion, we must see it in a supernatural light. It 
will never be approved when viewed with a 
carnal eye ; to the carnal eye of one, it is a 
stumbling-block ; to that of another, foolish- 
ness. God must " command the light to shine 
out of darkness, and shine in our hearts, to give 
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ." The heart of one 
who has faith will also be satisfied with God's 
design to save his own people, to save them in 
such a way that they can have no share in the 
glory of their salvation, and to have all the 



OF SALVATION. 157 

glory ascribed to his own blessed name. No- 
thing- but a work of grace in the heart can 
make a man stoop so low as that the Lord 
above shall be exalted. This approbation, 
moreover, includes the satisfaction of the heart 
with all the means of divine appointment for 
accomplishing the divine purposes. And, 
lastly, faith adheres with entire satisfaction to 
the Gospel plan of salvation, preferring it above 
all other ways ; and this last is the act of faith 
which gives a sure title to all the benefits of 
Christ. 

Third. Consider, too, the manner in which 
faith approves of the plan of salvation. Faith 
views it as a plan worthy of infinite wisdom. 
While justice seems to demand the sinner's 
death, mercy demands his life; but in Christ, 
justice and mercy are both fully satisfied, the 
sinner is saved, and the honour of God and his 
law fully maintained. Faith views this plan as 
full of love and goodness. " God is love ;" 
and in no way is this love so signally manifest- 
ed as in the death of Christ for the salvation 
of sinners. " Greater love hath no man than 
this, that a man lay down his life for his 
friends." "But God commendeth his love 
towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, 
Christ died for us." Faith views this plan as 
14 



158 THE GREAT CONCERN 

highly honourable to all parts of the divine 
law. The obedience of Christ to it was the 
highest honour it could receive ; and it was a 
glorious testimony of the authority of God, of 
his wisdom, goodness, and purity in framing 
the law. And if Christ honoured the law by 
the obedience of his life, no less did he honour 
its sanction by enduring its penalty. Faith 
also views this plan as full of peace. The 
Gospel is a mission of peace, and so faith 
regards it. The law has nothing to demand. 
If it require perfect obedience, then Christ has 
fulfilled all righteousness, and so is become 
the end of the law for righteousness for every 
one who believes. If it demand the penalty, 
Christ has been obedient unto death ; and in 
raising him from the dead, God declared his 
satisfaction with the work of his Son. And 
when God justifies, conscience is satisfied, and 
the soul finds peace. Lastly, faith views this 
plan as affording complete security to sinners. 
It was devised by infinite wisdom, it has the 
promise of him whose word is eternal truth, 
that salvation is sure to the penitent and be- 
lieving soul, and almighty power is pledged to 
carry the plan into execution. Hence there is 
security. 

Fourth. Faith will discover its approbation 



OF SALVATION. 159 

of this plan, even in the midst of temptation. 
In every difficulty the believing" soul flees to 
the Saviour. The burden of guilt, the per- 
plexities of temptation, the fears of death and 
judgment, are all relieved in the plan of salva- 
tion. And if temptation at any time produce 
self-reliance, or any false reliance, the soul 
soon discovers the mistake, and, dissatisfied 
with itself, finds its only satisfaction in Jesus 
Christ. In conformity to the Gospel is heart- 
felt delight. There is a refreshing sweetness 
in it, which is known only to the believing soul. 
And if the believer be harassed at all with 
doubts and fears, they are not about the suffi- 
ciency of the way, but whether he be really in 
that way. 

II. A second mark of saving faith is, that 
wherever it exists, it manifests itself by ap- 
proving the whole law of God, as holy, just, 
spiritual, and good. An -unbeliever may approve 
of some of the commands of God. Any one may 
approve of such precepts as are not aimed at his 
own besetting sins. But faith alone can say 
that none of the commands are grievous. The 
spiritual mind can " delight in the law of God ;" 
but "the carnal mind is not subject to the law 
of God, neither indeed can be." The spiritual 
mind contemplates with delight that inward 



160 THE GREAT CONCERN 






change which produces a desire of conformity 
to the whole of the divine law. The believer 
is born again, of water and of the Spirit ; he is 
" created in Christ Jesus unto good works." 
And if every believer be not sure that he has 
been created anew in Christ, yet he must be in 
some measure conscious of it, or he can have 
no evidence of saving faith. 

First. The believer manifests his approbation 
of the divine law by cherishing the desire to be 
conformed to it. By regeneration we are made 
" partakers of the divine nature ;" and the 
effect of this new nature will be, in a greater 
or less degree, to produce inclinations to obe- 
dience ; and the inclination itself will be plea- 
sant to the soul ; hence it will be cherished. 
The effect of obedience is always pleasant to 
the believer. " Great peace have all they that 
love thy law." 

Second. The believer discovers approbation 
of the law of God, by his delight in seeing 
others conformed to it. He is pleased with 
holiness, wherever it is found. If 'he cannot 
see himself conformed to the divine law as he 
could wish, he is pleased with seeing others so ; 
and looks upon them as the excellent of the earth. 

Third. The believer never entertains dislike 
to God's law, when he is under the greatest 



OF SALVATION. 161 

temptations to do it. He will be displeased 
with himself, but not with the law. He will 
not dislike the law, though he should have 
occasion to say, with Paul, " the commandment 
which was ordained to life, I found to be unto 
death ; for sin, taking occasion by the com- 
mandment, deceived me, and by it slew me." 
With Paul, the believer can still add, " where- 
fore the law is holy, and the commandment 
holy, just, and good." The believer's lan- 
guage is, Whatever becomes of me, the law is 
good ; I do not wish one item of it changed. 

Fourth. The believer shows his approbation 
of the whole revealed will of God concerning 
the holiness required of man, by dissatisfaction 
with want of full conformity to it. His prayer 
is : " O that my ways were directed to keep 
thy statutes." However strong his assurance 
of an interest in Christ, he is not satisfied with 
any want of conformity to the law of God. It 
is the likeness of the Saviour which satisfies ; 
" I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy 
likeness." Now, unless you can thus approve 
of the whole revelation of the will of God con- 
cerning duty, you have not saving faith. 

III. A third mark of saving faith is, that 
Christ appears precious to the soul : " Unto 
14* 



162 THE GREAT CONCERN 

you therefore which helieve, he is precious." 
Faith exalts Christ, and places him on the 
throne of the mind and affections. Now, reader, 
how is it with you ? Is Christ precious to you? 
Do you wish him to be precious to others ? 
Parents, children, husbands, wives, do you en- 
deavour to commend Christ to one another? 
Do you prize the means of grace which Christ 
has appointed? Can ordinances satisfy you 
without a discovery of Christ in them by faith ? 
Can you go from the house of God as great 
strangers to Christ as you entered it, and be 
satisfied with yourself? Do you resolutely and 
willingly part with every thing which comes in 
competition with Christ ? When brought into 
such a condition as to be compelled to offend 
Christ or the world, which would you do ? Can 
other things satisfy you without Christ? Is 
Christ more precious to you than every thing 
else ? If not, he is not precious to you ; he is 
not yours ; you have not saving faith. 

Other marks of faith might be given, but I 
omit them, and ask three questions, which I 
wish the reader to lay seriously to heart. Let 
conscience give the answer, as in presence of 
the Searcher of all hearts. 

First. Are you satisfied with Christ Jesus 



OF SALVATION. 163 

himself? Do you see any loveliness in his 
person, or is he to you void of form or comeli- 
ness ? 

Second. Do you renounce your own wis- 
dom, righteousness, and strength, and venture 
your all upon the wisdom, righteousness, and 
strength of Christ ? 

Third. Is it your pleasure to take the yoke 
of Christ upon you ? Do you think his yoke 
easy and his burden light? 

Answer these questions in the light of eter- 
nity. The day is coming when the secrets of 
all hearts will be laid open ; and surely it is the 
part of wisdom to know your case before it 
shall be too late to apply the offered remedy. 
Many have thought themselves believers, and 
have afterwards found their mistake. " Do 
not think, then, that you have not need " to try 
yourselves," and " prove your own selves," and 
to "give all diligence to make your calling and 
election sure." How awful will be your mis- 
take, if you do not find it till your final doom 
be fixed in the world of wo. 

Section IV. Address to unbelievers. — To 
unbelievers belong all the openly vicious, all 
profane swearers, all drunkards, liars, all the 
unclean, all whoremongers, fornicators, adul- 



164 THE GREAT CONCERN 

terers, Sabbath-breakers, all grossly ignorant 
and self-righteous sinners, all habitual neglect- 
ers of duties, secret, private, or public ; and, in 
short, all who do not approve of God's plan of 
saving sinners, all who do not approve of the 
whole law of God, and all to whom Christ is 
not precious. I entreat such to listen to a few 
things, on their sin, their danger, and their 
duty. 

First. I begin with the sin of the unbeliever. 
I shall notice only a few of the ingredients of 
the sin of unbelief. Murder, incest, theft, adul- 
tery, and other similar crimes, we view with 
abhorrence ; he who is guilty of them we re- 
gard as a monster of iniquity. But unbelief 
goes a step farther than these crimes ; or rather, 
we might call it the prolific fountain of all sin. 
It is trampling on the authority of God in that 
command, which is given with peculiar em- 
phasis, as the first and indispensable command 
of the Gospel, to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And this is his commandment, " that 
we should believe on the name of his son Jesus 
Christ." But unbelief treats this command 
with contempt. Unbelief also charges God 
with falsehood. " He that believeth on the 
Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that 
believeth not God hath made him a liar, be- 



OF SALVATION. 165 

cause he believeth not the record which God 
gave of his Son." Surely unbelief cannot be a 
small thing. Unbelief imputes folly to the only 
wise God, and that in the most signal instance 
of his wisdom. All the treasures of infinite 
wisdom, of which we have ever had any exhi- 
bition, are employed in the plan of salvation. 
Here is manifold wisdom — wisdom in a mys- 
tery, into which the angels desire to look. 
But unbelief rejects it all, thus treating the 
riches of redeeming love as a trifle, not worthy 
to be attended to, or even believed. Unbelief 
goes farther than this ; it charges God with a 
defect in goodness, and tramples on his love, 
mercy, and grace. " The Lord, the Lord God, 
merciful and gracious," is the aspect under 
which the Lord appears in the Gospel. The 
Gospel is the glass in which the goodness of 
God is most strikingly seen ; but unbelief would 
dash that glass in pieces, and thus obliterate 
the name by which the Lord most delights to 
be known. Like faithful Abraham, the believer 
gives all glory to God ; the unbeliever takes it 
all away. Unbelievers, who hear the Gospel, 
" crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, 
and put him to an open shame." The unbe- 
liever " hath trodden under foot the Son of 
God, and hath counted the blood of the cove- 



166 THE GREAT CONCERN 

nant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy 
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of 
grace." 

Second. Now, reader, if you are an unbe- 
liever, you are in danger of damnation. You 
sit secure, as if you had nothing to fear; you 
cry peace, when there is no peace. You say 
to your soul, Soul, take thy rest, when you are 
hastening on to ruin. " He that believeth, and 
is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth 
not shall be damned." And your great hazard 
in being exposed to this fearful doom is, that of 
the wrath of God. " He that believeth not the 
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God 
abideth on him." Who knows the power of 
God's wrath ? who can endure it ? We greatly 
fear the wrath of man when unrestrained ; but 
think of the wrath of an offended God ; when 
the Lord Jesus shall be " revealed from heaven 
with his mighty angels in naming fire, taking 
vengeance on them that know not God, and 
that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ ; who shall be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
from the glory of his power." Here you are 
told of everlasting destruction, of which you are 
in danger; not the annihilation of the body or 
the soul, for these must exist forever, " their 



OF SALVATION. 167 

worm dieth not;" but the utter and everlasting- 
destruction of all your enjoyments, and all 
your hopes ; the fearful doom of endless pain. 
It is a punishment proportioned to the crime ; 
and proportioned to that blood which is tram- 
pled on. It is great in proportion to the means 
enjoyed, by which, had you improved them, 
you might have been prepared for an inherit- 
ance among the sons of glory. It is great in 
proportion to the immeasurable worth of that 
salvation which, for a trifle, you would barter 
away. " How shall we escape, if we neglect 
so great salvation?" "He that despised Mo- 
ses' law, died without mercy under two or 
three witnesses ; of how much sorer punish- 
ment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, 
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God ?" 
Such is the danger of unbelief. God threatens 
unbelievers with wrath and punishment. On 
others he has impartially executed his threat- 
enings; as upon the Israelites, whose carcasses 
fell in the wilderness for their unbelief. " To 
whom sware he that they should not enter into 
his rest, but to them that believed not V 9 "If 
we sin wilfully after that we have received the 
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no 
more sacrifice for sins ; but a fearful looking 



168 THE GREAT CONCERN 

for of judgment and fiery indignation which 
shall devour the adversaries." 

Third. Your duty is, to "believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ." The bearer of such a 
message comes not in his own name to treat 
with you on this subject; but as an ambas- 
sador of Christ, furnished with a commission 
from him. You are required to feel and ac- 
knowledge yourself a blind and ignorant sin- 
ner, incapable in yourself of attaining to any 
measure of the saving knowledge of God. 
You are required to believe in, rely on, and 
receive the Lord Jesus Christ, for instruction 
and wisdom in all things pertaining to godli- 
ness. " Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, 
and lean not unto thine own understanding." 
This wisdom is gained only by trusting entirely 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is made of God 
wisdom to all that believe. Renouncing all 
self-dependence, and all merit of your own, you 
must be found in Christ, " not having your own 
righteousness, which is of the law, but the 
righteousness which is of God, through the 
faith of Jesus Christ." As you have by your 
sins rendered yourself justly obnoxious to the 
wrath of your holy Maker, you are never to 
offer him your own doings or sufferings, as a 
satisfaction to him for your sins, or as a propi- 



OF SALVATION. 

tiatory offering to turn away his wrath ; but 
you are to trust only to the Lamb of God, that 
is set forth as the only propitiation for sin. 
Through faith, and faith alone in Christ and 
him crucified, will God accept sinners. You 
are cheerfully to receive Christ as your sove- 
reign Lord, and willingly submit to all his com- 
mands. You are to receive him as " the author 
and finisher of your faith ;" the author, pre- 
server, and promoter of spiritual life, and of 
sanctification ; for he is " made of God unto 
us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifica- 
tion, and redemption." You are to look to 
him to strengthen and guide you. " And 
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in 
the name of the Lord Jesus." And to sum 
up all, you are to yield immediate compliance 
with these demands of your Lord and Re- 
deemer. We have no instruction to give 
the least encouragement to delay. Now is 
the accepted time ; to-morrow may be too 
late. We are to comply with all our Lord's 
commands, for they cannot be separated. Time 
is precious, waste it not in delay. 

We beseech you, turn to the Lord and live. 

" As ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 

beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's 

stead, be ye reconciled to God." It is no un- 

15 



170 THE GREAT CONCERN 

reasonable demand upon you to believe on 
Christ. Believe, and great will be your re- 
ward in heaven. "Whether Paul or Apollos, 
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or 
things present, or things to come ; all are yours, 
and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 
Accept of Christ, for he is worthy. He is "the 
only begotten of the Father ;" " the image of 
the invisible God." Both for his personal ex- 
cellence, and on account of what he has done 
for sinners, he deserves the obedience and su- 
preme love of your heart. All the perfections 
of the divine nature, all that is excellent in your 
own, all the wounds of the crucified Saviour 
of the world, all the tears he shed, all the crim- 
son drops of Gethsemane, and the flowing blood 
of Calvary, all cry with one voice, Sinners, we 
beseech you, believe on the Lord Jesus. Can 
you refuse ? All the love of the Father, all the 
grace of the Son, and all the blessings of com- 
munion with the Holy Spirit, plead with you to 
repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. It is 
heaven which you are entreated to gain; it is 
hell which you are urged to avoid. 

Section V. Address to those who are in 
doubt whether they believe or not, — Your case 
is truly pitiable. A conflict between hope and 



OF SALVATION. 171 

fear continually torments you. Rest not in 
this state. " Give all diligence to make your 
calling and election sure." The authority of 
God, the claims of the Gospel, your own com- 
fort, all call upon you to hasten out of this 
state of painful doubt. I will not flatter you 
with the belief that you will find no difficulty 
in it ; it is often a work of difficulty. There 
must be searching, proving, trying. The 
candle of the Lord must be lighted in you, and 
with that you must search. The touchstone 
must be brought, and you must stand the test. 
The furnace must be kindled, and you must 
abide the trial. You must put yourself in the 
balance, which is held by the hand of him who 
weighs every action. 

First. Do not, however, conclude that you 
are destitute of faith, because you have never 
experienced all which some others relate of 
themselves. Some, before conversion, have 
long and severe conflicts with sin, or about the 
law; some have much clearness and confi- 
dence when first converted, so that they are 
able to give a distinct account of the time, 
place, means, and manner of their conversion ; 
and some have much joy and eminent manifes- 
tations afterwards ; others have not. If you 



172 THE GREAT CONCERN 

come short of some others in these respects, 
do not from this conclude that you have no 
faith. What is absolutely necessary, is only 
such exercises as are sufficient to drive you 
from yourself to Christ. In some, these exer- 
cises are very long and intense. Others, in 
the mist of their own corruptions, and the 
temptations of Satan and the world, cannot 
discover the divine work upon their souls ; they 
cannot reach that joy in believing which some 
experience ; they are never permitted to see 
Christ upon the mount in high manifestations 
of his glory. 

Second. Do not conclude that you have 
no faith, because you see not all things as they 
ought to be with you. Sin sometimes rages 
and tyrannizes in the heart even of a believer; 
and though it be a blot upon the Christian 
character, it does not of itself prove an entire 
destitution of faith, at least where the man 
mourns over it, and strives against it. 

Third. You will remove many difficulties 
by studying well the covenant of grace. As- 
certain the ground of your acceptance with 
God, and your admittance into a covenant 
relation. Whatever your sins, you cannot be 
ruined, if you are willing to owe salvation en- 



OF SALVATIOX. 173 

tirely to free grace in Christ according to the 
Gospel. The greatest sinner may be saved in 
this way. 

Fourth. Study the adaptation of the covenant 
of grace to the state of believers, who still carry 
about with them a body of sin and death. It 
accepts of sincere obedience ; it provides in- 
fluences to enable believers to perform that 
obedience ; and secures pardon for the failings 
of those who honestly and heartily endeavour 
to live a life of faith and godliness. 

Fifth. Study the source of that peace which 
believers enjoy in their walk with God. This 
is not their own merit, but God's mercy. It is 
not their own blamelessness, but the efficacy 
of Christ's blood to take away sin; it is not 
freedom from occasional irregularities, though 
these are inexcusable ; it is the testimony of a 
good conscience, that we make it our constant 
endeavour to keep that conscience void of 
offence towards God and towards man, by entire 
dependence on God in Christ, for mercy to 
forgive sin, and for grace to help in time of 
need. 

Sixth. Especially acquaint yourself w r ith 

those marks of grace which are to be found in 

the believing soul under all its temptations ; and 

which indicate the existence rather than the 

15* 



174 THE GREAT CONCERN 

degree of grace. These marks have before 
been mentioned. 

Seventh. Pray fervently for the influences 
of the Spirit, which searcheth the deep things 
of God, and which can send such a beam of 
light into your soul as fully to show you your 
state. 

Eighth. Wait upon the Lord in the use 
of all the means of grace. In matters of 
Christian assurance God exercises much sove- 
reignty. "When he giveth quietness, who 
can give trouble ? and when he hideth his 
face, who can behold him ?" Trust in him, 
that in his own good time he will grant your 
requests. "The husbandman waiteth for the 
precious fruit of the earth, and hath long pa- 
tience for it, until he receive the early and 
latter rain." Impatience, frowardness, sloth, 
and weariness, are not indications of a good 
state of the soul. "It is good that a man 
should both hope and quietly wait for the sal- 
vation of the Lord." 

Section VI. Address to those who have 
good reason to say that they believe. — If you 
have indeed good evidence of faith, " Take the 
cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the 
Lord." Bless his holy name. Praise him 



OF SALVATION. 175 

who remembered you in your low estate, for 
his mercy endureth forever. You are by 
faith engrafted into Christ ; then bring forth 
much fruit. Depend on Christ for strength 
and light, that he may be all in all to you. 
Above all things regard his honour and glory. 
Pity those who are without God, and without 
hope in the world. Labour for their sal- 
vation. Commend Christ and his religion 
to them by your holy walk and godly con 
versation. Sympathize with God's people in 
all their joys and sorrows, that you may 
appear to be members of the same body, of 
which Christ is the glorious and exalted Prince 
and head. Whatever God has done for you, 
ascribe all the glory of it to him alone. Dearly 
beloved in the Lord, since we " look for the 
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," from heaven, 
" who shall change our vile bodies, that they 
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, 
according to the working whereby he is able 
to subdue all things unto himself," stand fast 
in the Lord. Prepare for trials. If never 
called to meet them, rejoice in the deliver- 
ance ; but if you are, think it not strange, 
think not that God is against you. They that 
will live godly in Christ Jesus, must travel 
through difficulties. "In the world ye shall 



176 THE GREAT CONCERN OF SALVATION. 

have tribulation." The glorified saints are 
a people who have come out of great tribula- 
tion, and have had their garments washed 
white in the blood of the Lamb. Stand fast 
in the love and obedience of the truth; and 
he who is able shall "present you faultless 
before the presence of his glory with exceed- 
ing joy." To him be glory in all the churches. 
Amen. 



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